And as another Happy Valentine's day to me... I got a free glass of wine at Pints & Plates while I waited for my dinner. : )
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day from T.P.
My company gave each of us a few Leonidas chocolates for Valentine's Day today... best Belgium chocolates around! : )
And as another Happy Valentine's day to me... I got a free glass of wine at Pints & Plates while I waited for my dinner. : )
And as another Happy Valentine's day to me... I got a free glass of wine at Pints & Plates while I waited for my dinner. : )
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day
Today, I got a call that I had a package at the front desk at work... I wasn't expecting anything and I was thinking "this must be a mistake". Nope, turns out that Matt (best boyfriend ever!) sent me these beautiful flowers for Valentine's Day.
Thanks, babe! : )
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Tuesday night
Exciting night at home... I stopped off at the little grocery store on my way home to pick up something for dinner. Nothing looked good, but here's what I'm eatin':
Kipburger (chicken-burger)... not sure what part of the chicken the meat is from. There were percentages and different parts of chicken listed on the back. I decided it would be best not to translate it and just eat it. I know you are all jealous!
For dessert, I picked up some roomijs (ice-cream)... this is the first time I've actually used the freezer in my apartment since I've been here. The freezer is really small, but informative... there are pictures and how long you can keep certain things in the freezer. I'm not sure what all the pictures are supposed to be, but I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about it. : )
Kipburger (chicken-burger)... not sure what part of the chicken the meat is from. There were percentages and different parts of chicken listed on the back. I decided it would be best not to translate it and just eat it. I know you are all jealous!
For dessert, I picked up some roomijs (ice-cream)... this is the first time I've actually used the freezer in my apartment since I've been here. The freezer is really small, but informative... there are pictures and how long you can keep certain things in the freezer. I'm not sure what all the pictures are supposed to be, but I'm pretty sure I don't need to worry about it. : )
I'm really starting to hate bikes!
There are almost as many bikes as there are people in this city... and if you are on a bike, walking a bike, standing next to a bike talking to your friends,etc., you automatically have the right of way. Cars stop for bikes, people stop for bikes... it's like the bike is king around here. If a bike comes your way, they will ring their little bell at you, but keep going full speed. If you don't move and the bike-rider has to change his course slightly, they get really angry. I've seen this multiple times with tourists that get in the way, even big trucks in the way of a bike. It's not like the bikes are trying to ride on a bike-only path in these situations either. They are riding on the street where the cars are supposed to be... but if you are a car or a person and there is a bike... bike wins. No question. I can understand bikers getting angry if you are walking on what is specifically designated as a bike path, but other than that... chill out!
Every night on my 10 minute walk home from the metro stop to my apartment, I inevitaby encounter at least 20 bikes (I should really count this because I think it's much more than that!). Last night was no exception... first, on the sidewalk three people on bikes decide to stop for a chat and take up the ENTIRE sidewalk. I walk around them (onto the street) for maybe a second and get "dinged" at that I am in the way of some girl on a bike... yeah, well, where am I supposed to go? Your fellow bike-riders are blocking my sidewalk!
On the metro this morning, a girl wants to bring her bike onto the train (totally ok, you can have two at each entrance of the metro cars). But instead of rolling the bike into a crowded car with caution, she comes right in with some sort of entitlement to the space where people are standing... I guess everyone should know that if a bike is coming on, there is one place it goes and you should high-tail it out of that space (even if the train is crowded and there really is no other space)... or else you get the evil look and your pants get a nice tire mark on them.
My new favorite sign:
I think there is a different attitude here about personal space, too. I will be walking down the street in a straight path and wham!... some other person walking smacks right into me... and then gives me a look like I am at fault. I did not change MY course. There is not a lot of courtesy. If you are walking towards someone in the same path, they will not move over to share the space. They will continue to take up the entire path, even if they are walking shoulder to shoulder with three of their friends and taking up the entire sidewalk. Nope... you must move... usually involves walking for a second in the street... then there's that dinging again! I've even actually kept walking myself in the same path to see if they will eventually move or if they will blatantly run into me... my little form of "chicken", I guess. These people are so clueless... they will smack right into me.
Maybe it's because I live in such a touristy populated area. There are SO many people walking around all night by my apartment. I'm guessing half of them are high and possibly can't actually see me... maybe I am just some hazy form to them and they don't really think I am a person and that is why they run into me.
Or maybe they are just rude.
Every night on my 10 minute walk home from the metro stop to my apartment, I inevitaby encounter at least 20 bikes (I should really count this because I think it's much more than that!). Last night was no exception... first, on the sidewalk three people on bikes decide to stop for a chat and take up the ENTIRE sidewalk. I walk around them (onto the street) for maybe a second and get "dinged" at that I am in the way of some girl on a bike... yeah, well, where am I supposed to go? Your fellow bike-riders are blocking my sidewalk!
On the metro this morning, a girl wants to bring her bike onto the train (totally ok, you can have two at each entrance of the metro cars). But instead of rolling the bike into a crowded car with caution, she comes right in with some sort of entitlement to the space where people are standing... I guess everyone should know that if a bike is coming on, there is one place it goes and you should high-tail it out of that space (even if the train is crowded and there really is no other space)... or else you get the evil look and your pants get a nice tire mark on them.
My new favorite sign:
I think there is a different attitude here about personal space, too. I will be walking down the street in a straight path and wham!... some other person walking smacks right into me... and then gives me a look like I am at fault. I did not change MY course. There is not a lot of courtesy. If you are walking towards someone in the same path, they will not move over to share the space. They will continue to take up the entire path, even if they are walking shoulder to shoulder with three of their friends and taking up the entire sidewalk. Nope... you must move... usually involves walking for a second in the street... then there's that dinging again! I've even actually kept walking myself in the same path to see if they will eventually move or if they will blatantly run into me... my little form of "chicken", I guess. These people are so clueless... they will smack right into me.
Maybe it's because I live in such a touristy populated area. There are SO many people walking around all night by my apartment. I'm guessing half of them are high and possibly can't actually see me... maybe I am just some hazy form to them and they don't really think I am a person and that is why they run into me.
Or maybe they are just rude.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Weekend
What a great weekend... I got caught up on laundry and cleaning, did some shopping and also fit in a few sights. And I had plenty of time to lay around on the couch and veg out.
Friday night, I went to my new gym to workout. It really is true what they say about Europeans and them not wearing deodorant, just anti-perspirant. The gym is NOT a nice smelling place! I don't understand how people can't smell themselves. I ended up on a treadmill next to a guy who did not smell like roses and it was a little distracting. My gym is in a few old houses combined and is 7 floors tall.
Starting Friday night through Saturday afternoon, I did 5 loads of laundry... this is a big feat considering it takes 2 hours for each load to wash. I washed all the sheets in my apartment and ironed them. I found out when Meg left that they told her we had to iron the sheets or they might charge us! I scrubbed down the apartment while I was waiting for the loads to finish up. After that, I went shopping on Kalverstraat, a pedestrian only street with tons of stores (and tourists). There were lots of sales going on... my mom would have loved it! : ) I managed to only buy a few things, now that I've started thinking about how I'm going to get everything back home to Chicago with me.
On Sunday, I went to the Amstelkring Museum, the oldest museum in Amsterdam, which also happens to be right down the street from my apartment. It is three canal houses joined together with a hidden Catholic church in the attic. It was forbidden to celebrate mass in the 17th century during the Reformation, but as long as the Catholic churches weren't recognizable from the outside, it was tolerated.
The church and confessional:
Then, I went to the Oudekerk (Old Church), which is close by the Amstelkring. While I was in the church, there was an organ concert and then a flute concert.
There also was some contemporary art exhibition throughout the church. It was really strange. Here's a life-size pick-up sticks game... and some really weird "bodies" laying in middle of the walkway. Not what you would expect to see in this really old church.
Since it was so sunny and warm (in the 50's), I decided to keep walking around the city. Just a random canal pic...
I came to the Saint Francis Xavier (Krijtberg) church, which is part of the St. Nicholas parish that includes 5 different churches around the city. The church was built in place of another secret church. The church was really beautiful inside, but I doubt you can see that from these pictures since I had to take them with no flash.
I couldn't believe this when I saw it... I was just in London at the Camden Market last weekend and now it's burnt down. I guess they still don't know what caused the fire and no one was killed. But it took 100 firefighters over 3 hours to get it under control.
Friday night, I went to my new gym to workout. It really is true what they say about Europeans and them not wearing deodorant, just anti-perspirant. The gym is NOT a nice smelling place! I don't understand how people can't smell themselves. I ended up on a treadmill next to a guy who did not smell like roses and it was a little distracting. My gym is in a few old houses combined and is 7 floors tall.
Starting Friday night through Saturday afternoon, I did 5 loads of laundry... this is a big feat considering it takes 2 hours for each load to wash. I washed all the sheets in my apartment and ironed them. I found out when Meg left that they told her we had to iron the sheets or they might charge us! I scrubbed down the apartment while I was waiting for the loads to finish up. After that, I went shopping on Kalverstraat, a pedestrian only street with tons of stores (and tourists). There were lots of sales going on... my mom would have loved it! : ) I managed to only buy a few things, now that I've started thinking about how I'm going to get everything back home to Chicago with me.
On Sunday, I went to the Amstelkring Museum, the oldest museum in Amsterdam, which also happens to be right down the street from my apartment. It is three canal houses joined together with a hidden Catholic church in the attic. It was forbidden to celebrate mass in the 17th century during the Reformation, but as long as the Catholic churches weren't recognizable from the outside, it was tolerated.
The church and confessional:
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Then, I went to the Oudekerk (Old Church), which is close by the Amstelkring. While I was in the church, there was an organ concert and then a flute concert.
  |
There also was some contemporary art exhibition throughout the church. It was really strange. Here's a life-size pick-up sticks game... and some really weird "bodies" laying in middle of the walkway. Not what you would expect to see in this really old church.
  |
Since it was so sunny and warm (in the 50's), I decided to keep walking around the city. Just a random canal pic...
I came to the Saint Francis Xavier (Krijtberg) church, which is part of the St. Nicholas parish that includes 5 different churches around the city. The church was built in place of another secret church. The church was really beautiful inside, but I doubt you can see that from these pictures since I had to take them with no flash.
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I couldn't believe this when I saw it... I was just in London at the Camden Market last weekend and now it's burnt down. I guess they still don't know what caused the fire and no one was killed. But it took 100 firefighters over 3 hours to get it under control.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Harry Potter... leader of the Netherlands???
One funny thing I found out last night is that everyone thinks the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Jan Peter Balkenende, looks like an older version of Harry Potter.
You be the judge...
You be the judge...
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First Thursday Dinner
On the first Thursday of each month a group of people from my company get together for dinner. Meg and I went in December and I'm not sure if they had one in January due to the holidays, but I went to the February outing Thursday night.
We had dinner at Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam, which is a former water pumping station that was converted into offices and a restaurant. The room where the restaurant is used to the be the engine room of the pumping station and there were still pieces of machinery randomly throughout the place.
Quite a few people showed up... the food and conversation was nice. Luckily, Jonathan (the guy from Philly) and I sat by two other people that didn't mind speaking English most of the night. We found out some interesting facts about the Netherlands, their politics, foods... all sorts of stuff.
Group photo... I'm waaaay in the back.
I ordered the pasta with mushrooms, thinking it would be mostly pasta with a few mushrooms on top. Nope... it was mostly mushrooms, which I like, but not in that quantity. I couldn't finish it all, but lucky for me, Michiel is a human garbage disposal (kind of like Bryan) and he ate the rest of it. I could see him eye-ing it and finally I just said... here, you can have it! : )
For dessert, we had chocolate ice-cream with "advocaat", which is a Dutch brandy egg-nog. It was pretty strong stuff, but tasty.
At the table across from us, there were these guys with shirts that said "Help mijn man is klusser!"... which someone told us kind of translates to "Help, my husband is a handyman!" Apparently, there is a TV show based in Amsterdam where wives call in to ask for help for their husbands who try to do handy-man type projects around the house, but either fail miserably or just never finish them. So, teams of people (which we assumed these guys must be part of), come in and finish the project.
We had dinner at Cafe Restaurant Amsterdam, which is a former water pumping station that was converted into offices and a restaurant. The room where the restaurant is used to the be the engine room of the pumping station and there were still pieces of machinery randomly throughout the place.
Quite a few people showed up... the food and conversation was nice. Luckily, Jonathan (the guy from Philly) and I sat by two other people that didn't mind speaking English most of the night. We found out some interesting facts about the Netherlands, their politics, foods... all sorts of stuff.
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Group photo... I'm waaaay in the back.
I ordered the pasta with mushrooms, thinking it would be mostly pasta with a few mushrooms on top. Nope... it was mostly mushrooms, which I like, but not in that quantity. I couldn't finish it all, but lucky for me, Michiel is a human garbage disposal (kind of like Bryan) and he ate the rest of it. I could see him eye-ing it and finally I just said... here, you can have it! : )
For dessert, we had chocolate ice-cream with "advocaat", which is a Dutch brandy egg-nog. It was pretty strong stuff, but tasty.
At the table across from us, there were these guys with shirts that said "Help mijn man is klusser!"... which someone told us kind of translates to "Help, my husband is a handyman!" Apparently, there is a TV show based in Amsterdam where wives call in to ask for help for their husbands who try to do handy-man type projects around the house, but either fail miserably or just never finish them. So, teams of people (which we assumed these guys must be part of), come in and finish the project.
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