Back in the NL

I made it back to Amsterdam... the flight went pretty well and we even got in early. I upgraded my seat to Economy Plus which gives you about 5 extra inches of leg room. That extra room makes such a difference. I was actually able to sleep on the flight. We each had our own personal tv's in the seatback in front of us. I watched Transformers and an episode of Hannah Montana and part of License to Wed (actually, I fell asleep about 10 minutes into that movie). Unfortunately, out of all the seats on the plane, I ended up sitting next to the smelliest guy! I kept watching people walking down the aisle to see who was going to sit next to me and I saw this guy coming down the aisle and I thought to myself "no, no, no". It was making me nauseous... I don't think he had washed his hair in a while. : (

I took a cab from the airport because I was tired and didn't feel like lugging my bags on the train and walking from Central Station. The cab driver was really friendly and told me how much it was going to cost ahead of time and didn't try to scam me. So much better than the cab driver I had when I first got here at the beginning of November.

Now, I'm going to try to stay awake and probably walk over to the grocery store since there is only water and crackers at my apartment right now.

Just thought I'd add a pic... this is of the Singelgracht Canal at night:

My corporate travel department sucks

This morning I got another "confirmation" email telling me that the prices of the flights I booked on Monday were actually $4,400 instead of $3,600 like I had previously thought. I asked my assistant to check into this because it didn't seem right that they could jack up the price like that. Turns out that the flights were never actually reserved and nothing was even going to be charged to my credit card. Of course, no one in the travel department thought it was necessary to inform me of this little snafu! I guess I would have just showed up for my flight tomorrow night and found out then that the confirmation I had was invalid. The weird thing was I even looked up my flight reservation separately on the United website and it was there. I'm not sure what the heck happened, but the end result was that I had to "cancel" that reservation and re-book all of my flights... talk about last-minute stress!

Now here's a very weird thing... on Monday I booked four flights and I couldn't get the direct flight going to Amsterdam on Thursday for less than $3,700 for that flight alone. So, I ended up booking the connecting flight for Thursday. Today, when we went back to re-book the flights, I got all direct flights and the total cost came to almost $4,000... but when I got the final email confirmations, the total cost shows up as $3,450. What is going on here?!?!? I don't really mind since it's cheaper and as long as these tickets are valid and I'm allowed on the airplane, I'm happy. But, I'm still a little skeptical of this travel dept. I guess we'll know if the tickets were good if I'm in Amsterdam on Friday. : )

All packed and ready to go

I spent last night throwing everything I could think of that I might need in the next three weeks into my big red suitcase and another bag. I'm glad it's only three weeks that I will be away... kind of nice how this year the overseas trip is broken up so much better and I can come home so frequently. Of course, the flying back and forth takes a toll and is really no fun.

Last night Erin and I ordered Pizza Hut for dinner... so good!!! It's my favorite pizza and so hard to get in the city because there just aren't enough Pizza Huts in Chicago! Luckily, her new townhome is super close to one. We can actually walk there... but who wants to do that.

Good news... today, Dan was approved for his work visa and went to the consulate this morning. His passport will be ready by Monday at 11am, so he will be flying out on Monday evening, arriving Tuesday. Not too long after we all get there.

APPROVED!

We finally got the word that we have been approved for the MVV visa! Well, actually, only 3 of us got approvals. Dan is still waiting on his... something to do with his being born in Canada and them having to double-legalize his birth certificate. A bunch of crap! He's hoping to get his approval in the next few days and be back in the Netherlands by middle of next week.

After searching for literally HOURS on the internet for some decent prices on flights yesterday afternoon, I booked all of my flights to and from Amsterdam for this week and coming home for Christmas... total cost = $3,600. You don't get the best deals on international flights when you buy the tix only a couple days ahead of time and you are flying over xmas! I'm flying out on Thursday night around 6pm and connect through London. I hate connecting flights, but it's all I could get. Luckily, I will be on direct flights for the other 3 flights! I'm arriving a day ahead of the other two people, which is fine for me since I already have an apartment over there and I know how to get to it! : )

This morning, we headed over to the Dutch consulate here in Chicago when it opened to be the first in line to get our paperwork turned in. Apparently, the remaining step is more than just a stamp in the passport... they have some add'l paperwork we had to fill out (Schengen VISA application) and then we had to leave our passports with them so they could add a "sticker". We were told that the process usually takes 5 business days, but since we had already booked our flights for this week, they would push the paperwork through and have our passports stickered and ready for us by Thursday at 11am. The lady at the consulate was NOT happy about it, though! She let us know that quite a few times! I think we messed it up for Dan when he goes in to submit his paperwork in the next few days... she told us to tell our company that the next time they send people to the consulate, they must allow for the process to take 5 business days. Sorry Dan!

So now it's time to pack again! UGH... I hate packing.

They weren't kidding

On our drive home yesterday, we saw these signs (more than once):




We saw a ton of cops pulling people over. Luckily, we made it home with no incidents... of course, we were also driving quite slow considering the "engine malfunction" in my sister's car about 40 miles outside of Chicago. We aren't sure what was going on, but the car started driving at a reduced power level and was acting very strange. We were just glad to make it home.



Once we got home, we gave the cats some much-needed attention and watched the Bears game. Then, Matt and I grabbed dinner at Pete's Pizza. Yum!

Happy 60th Birthday Kent

Last night, we drove back to Pittsfield, IL for a surprise 60th birthday party for a friend of our family. This is the town where I spent my years from age 3 through age 9 1/2. This is also the town where I was crowned "Little Miss Piglet"... not for what you think... I had the longest pigtails (braids)! Quite an honor! : ) I hadn't been back there in so many years and it was really strange to drive down the street we used to live on and see our old house. Everything seemed so much smaller. There was an empty lot that we used to play baseball in all the time with all the neighborhood kids... the lot seemed so tiny to me now and the street seemed so much shorter! I guess I was a lot smaller then. : )

The party was held at a bar in the town square called The Brickyard. Erin and I got to see some of the people we grew up with... our old neighbors from down the street, Jami and Cory, and some others we had gone to the Ozarks with every year, Allison and Geoffrey. We also got to hear lots of stories about how crazy my dad used to be "back in the day". We all had a lot of fun catching up with everyone!

Erin, Mary and my mom


Me, Erin, Jami, Allison and Cory

The kids back in the day at the Ozarks one year (sorry, the picture didn't come in so well!) I'm 2nd from the left, Erin is 4th from the left and starting 3rd from the right are Jami, Allison and Cory. Yep, I was tall back then, too!

Kent does a $25 shot (Special Crown Royal - just one of the many he had)... I'm sure he wasn't feeling so great this morning!

My parents and Kent and Mary

This will have to do for now, Mom!

Our former neighbor, Regina, stopped by today with her granddaughter Keeley. Keeley thinks of my parents as another grandma and grandpa... which is good, because I told my mom, it will be a while for actual grandkids! : ) Regina was the best neighbor ever... unfortunately, the county bought her house a few years ago to build a highway and she had to move away.

Keeley is definitely a cutie... and a budding piano player! : )

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving toast... cheers!

We are all now in the "food coma" stage... time for some euchre and football! : )

UPDATE:
Games... Games... Games...

As is tradition with Thanksgiving afternoon, we played a lot of games... Apples to Apples, Euchre, Yahtzee, Gin, etc.

Apples to Apples: My dad was the big winner here... not sure how he manages to win this game, but always has the best card!

Euchre Champs: Stacia & LaMonica (my cousin Kyle's girlfriend's (Melina) roommate)... in a tough battle down to the very last hand, we beat Erin and Gramma to win the championship!

Then we all went to see Fred Claus at the theater. I fell alseep during part of it. It wasn't the best movie ever. It was very cheesy. Even having Vince Vaughn in it didn't make it better. : (

Best Thanksgiving Card Ever!

This is a talking card that we picked up for the parents on our trip home from Chicago.



On the inside, the card says "Appetizers" and talks when you open it... click on play below to hear what the card says inside (you may have to click twice - I'm not very good at this bloggin' thing yet!)

Burritos as big as your head

Tonight, a few of us went to Garcia's Restaurant for margaritas and mexican food. The place is awesome... tons of food and decent prices. It looks like a dive from the outside, but is always packed.

Hany and I both got the burritos and neither of us could finish half of them:



Group picture (Brett, Sarvesh, Grant, Hany, me and Erin):



Back at the house... I think the cats are still trying to figure out why I'm home. The fat one (aka Zoe) is very interested in my suitcase. The skinny one (aka Max) just stares at me. : )

Dollar at a record low

I saw this on CNN today... the dollar is at a record low vs. the Euro. $1.4767 = 1 EURO. Perfect time to be overseas, eh?

Of course, right now I'm not sure when I'll get back there. There is still no update yet on the work visas. We've been promised approvals by Friday (which is a holiday). I think once we get approval, it may even take a few days to get the paperwork done at the Dutch consulate here in Chicago. We found out that the Dutch consolate is only open from 9-12:30 each day. I will most likely be flying back to Amsterdam sometime next week, but no clue on which day. I'm sure that we will be booking our flights the day before we leave... which means middle section, middle seat. That oughta be fun! : (

The best cure for jet lag... party at Fubar's and the Diner!!!

After taking a quick nap (fastest two hours of my life!), I forced myself to get up and shower and get ready to go out. I figured that if I could stay up for a few hours, it would help me get back on the Chicago time schedule and hopefully not be too jet lag. Matt and I headed up to Fubar's party around 8:30pm. I drank a Red Bull in the cab on the way up there in hopes of lasting until 10pm.

Fubar (aka Mike) is a former actuary, turned high school math teacher and coach of freshman football at a southside school here in Chicago. He recently moved out of his old apartment (Club Fubar) into a new one (Fubar Manor???) and now lives with Deb and Stacy. Tonight was the inaugural party at Fubar Manor. The new apartment is very nice... two living rooms and there is a "party room" where the bar and barstools from Club Fubar fit perfectly.

At the beginning of the night, I had planned on staying out for a few hours and having a couple drinks and calling it an early night. I did not think I would be able to stay up very late at all, especially after how hard it was to get up from that nap earlier. Fast forward to 5 hours later... I was still standing and even dancing a little. I stayed out later than I would on a regular weekend night, let alone one where I've had only 2 hours of sleep out of the past 28 hours! I kept reminding Matt of what time it was in Amsterdam, which I think he started to find annoying after about the fifth time. : )

A few highlights of the party...

Clint made some new friends... or at least he thought they were "new". On 3 separate occasions with 3 different girls, Clint introduced himself, to which the girl responded "Yeah, we've met before." His response, "Yeah, I must have been drunk. Sorry." Now, once or maybe even twice, this isn't too bad... but, by the third time, it was pretty funny. I wonder if he'll remember meeting them at the next party?



"Shoulders"... Matt + BJ = Trouble. So, these two goofballs decide to create a nickname for a certain person at the party and then send Bryan on a mission to figure out who they are talking about. I (being the nice person that I am and finding this game pretty silly) decide to help Bryan out... to no avail (and to the protests of Matt and BJ). I'm not sure Bryan ever knew who it was (or even cared by the end of the night).



Speaking of Bryan... he was hamming it up in hopes of getting his picture on the blog. So, here you go... you made the blog! : ) You can see more pics of him and the party if you CLICK HERE.

We stayed at Fubar's until about 1am and then ended the night at the Diner... Matt's favorite late night place to go for greasy food and milkshakes. At the Diner Grill (or Dinner Grill depending on which side of the building you look at), you can get the famous "Slinger"... a big heaping mess containing the following: hash browns, grilled onions, two cheeseburger patties and two eggs over easy all covered in chili. There is a sign on the wall that says, "Don't ask, just eat." And the best part is that if you finish it in one sitting, you get a certificate celebrating your accomplishment. I do not possess one of these certificates and probably never will. Matt, on the other hand, does. We all stayed away from the Slinger tonight. No one was up for the challenge. : )

Sweet Home Chicago

I woke up this morning bright and early (about 11pm Chicago time... 6am Amsterdam time) to catch my flight back to Chicago. It's eerie how dead the streets are in Amsterdam at 7am on a Saturday morning. I made my way to Central Station to catch a train out to the airport. The only people I saw were some random weirdos talking to themselves and the people cleaning up the messes on the street from the night before. I would not want that job!

I ended up getting to the aiport way earlier than I needed to... lucky for me there are plenty of shops at Schipol airport! I stopped in the Duty Free shop and picked up some Vincent Van Gogh Vodka (special request from Matt). They were handing out samples of chocolate and I had one and was hooked. So, I bought some chocolate, too. I was looking at some of the other stuff they were selling and saw the packs of cigarettes... in the states, last I saw we just have a small warning label that says smoking is bad and harmful if you are pregnant... blah, blah, blah. Well, in Europe, they are much more descriptive...

Then I boarded the big plane and made my way to Chicago!



The flight was not all that great. The area I was in had like four babies, two of which took turns screaming throughout a lot of the flight. I was also one of about ten lucky people whose sound did not work on their headsets. Yep, no movie for me. I could watch it, but could not hear it. And it was subtitled in Dutch, so I couldn't even follow along by reading. I had brought my parents' portable DVD player and set that up to watch... wouldn't you know it, I forgot to charge the thing up last night so the movie stopped about half way through. So, I listened to my IPOD and did sudoku puzzles for most of the flight. Not exactly my idea of a good way to spend 9 hours of my life, but I made it.

Dan and I got into Chicago and were waiting for our bags to come in and there was a security dog sniffing around. He got a "hit" on my bag so the lady asked me to lay my bag on the ground... apparently, you are not allowed to bring in any produce items with you to the states. I had an apple in my bag that I had planned on eating on the flight, but did not. The dog was so cute and so excited that he found the apple... he was most happy because he got a cookie for his great work! : ) But, of course, I got a flag on my customs sheet, so when I went to leave, I had to go through a special area and they scanned my bag (you know, just in case I was trying to smuggle in a suitcase full of apples or something!). Poor Dan... they asked if he was with me and he said "I guess so" and they made him go through this additional scanning, too. Sorry!

Matt picked me up from the airport and took me out for lunch. Now we're watching some football... Illinois won again today - Go ILLINI!!! I think it's about time for a nap... it feels like midnight to me. : (

The long way home...

Tonight, I decided to walk through the shopping street on my way home from work. I took the train to Central Station and walked from there instead of getting out at my normal stop.

Here's a pic of the shopping street I walked down. There are already a lot of lights up around here for the holidays.

I walked by a McDonalds and a Burger King. At Burger King, you can get an "Angry Whopper", which is basically a big cheeseburger with onions and jalapenos.

McDonald's has some promotion here called "Road to America" and they have a few options of burgers. One is called the "Canada"... so maybe the promotion should be called "Road to North America"???



The 80's are definitely popular here... I saw this ghettoblaster bag for sale. I know you are all going to be begging me to bring you home one! : )



Then, I was a block from home and saw a Santa directing traffic in the middle of the street. There was a whole film crew set up taping the scene... cameras, spotlights and all. I took some pictures, but they didn't turn out all that great.

Best night of sleep so far

So, I actually slept the entire night last night... first time since I've been here. It takes me forever to fall asleep and then I usually wake up about 4am every morning. Not sure why that time is significant, but it seems to be a trend. I think I may finally be getting used to the time difference and the new apartment, bed, etc.

Just in time to head back to Chicago for a week or so... nice timing, eh?

Some random notes on a Tuesday...

Update on my work visa... it seems the approval process is getting messy. I was originally supposed to be back in Chicago on Nov 17th, staying for only a week and then head back to the Netherlands on Nov 24th. I just heard today that that may not be the case. The approvals for the work visas are supposed to be coming our way by Nov 23rd... which, of course, is a holiday. Since we have to go in person to the Dutch Consolate, I think it may be at least Tuesday 27th by the time I fly back to the Netherlands. It's definitely annoying not knowing. At least I can be home for Thanksgiving this year! : )

In other news, I got an email from my uncle telling me that the Sammy Fund event this year raised a record $41,000! Amazing! Since I didn't have this blog up and running back in October when the event took place, I'll add a couple of my favorite pics here now. : )

The Sammy Fund event weekend starts off early Saturday morning with a 5k run/2m walk.


Afterwards, we always head to the bar (even though it's only 10am!) for beer and chili dogs.


On Sunday, there is a golf tournament, dinner and silent auction.

Here, Erin sinks an awesome putt and Matt celebrates. Our team did not come in last place this year (as we have in the past)... maybe that has something to do with the new addition to the team this year. : )

Another day... another rainbow

Just a typical Monday... nothing too exciting going on. The weather was crazy again as usual. I can't believe how many rainbows I've seen since I've been here!



A little bit of touristy information for you... this area is called the Nieuwmarkt and is where my metro stops. The Nieuwmarkt has a lot of bars, restaurants and "coffeeshops". On the weekends, people set up stands to sell fruits, veggies, flowers, wooden shoes and other random stuff. The castle looking building is called 'De Waag'. It was once one of the city's gates back in the medieval times before the walls were tore down (1400's). It has also been a weighing-house and a place where surgeons would perform public dissections (nice, huh!). Now, the building is a restaurant. I have not eaten there, but some of my work colleagues have and said it's very nice (apparently, it has an awesome interior lit by hundreds of candles.)

In case you were wondering what is shown on TV over here... there really aren't a lot of English channels. Maybe more if you had something other than basic cable and 15 channels like I do. Some of the Dutch channels will play English shows every once in a while. But, nothing too recent. I am lucky enough to get to see the A-Team every night, though! : ) Also, Seinfeld and South Park are on most nights.

Dinner and Wii

Tonight, Marc invited us over to his house for dinner. His girlfriend, Chantal, made us a great meal of shrimp pasta and meringue dessert and we had a very fun time hanging out with them.

I was so excited because they had a Wii... so, of course we had to play!

The language of the Wii was a mix of English and Dutch. This (very important) screen was in Dutch, though.



Here is Chantal bowling...



And the final scores... the girls kicked butt! : )



Dan hanging out in the purple chair (it's some huge bean bag type chair):

Lennart also joined us after putting his new baby to bed. We went to the Heineken circle to a bar called Barca and had a few drinks.

Lennart and me:



Marc and Dan:



And for something totally random...

Funny thing they have here in Amsterdam... outdoor urinals for men! Crazy! I guess if you gotta go, you gotta go! It's really strange to be walking down the sidewalk and look over and see someone going to the bathroom.

Time to stock up on groceries

So, today I headed over to the big grocery store to pick some stuff up. The one I've been stopping at after work is in the NeiuwMarkt by my train stop and is just a little store.

On my way, I passed through Dam Square and there was some sort of kids soccer tournament going on. Is it just me or does it seem like a bad idea for kids to be running around on wet bricks?



One of the big grocery store chains in the Netherlands is called Albert Heijn.



The flavors of things sold over here are very interesting... so of course, I decided to take a few pictures. : )

Flame Grilled Steak Flavor Pringles



Or if you like... Barbecue Ham flavored Lays Chips.



They also had Ketcup flavored chips, but they were all out... must be a popular flavor.

This pic is for Matt... hot dogs! (sold in cans and jars here)



This was just funny to me... you can get "Old" cheese or if you are really adventurous you can get "Very Old" cheese.



And then there's a whole section of the store dedicated just to cheese... the Dutch love their cheese!