Sinking Boat

Across the canal from my apartment, this sinking dinghy is tied up. It has been since I moved in. Nothing's changed about it; it stays in relatively the same location, with the same proportionate amount of it above and below the water, even that wooden chest has been there the whole time.

I'm intrigued by its presence. Who's is it? How did it end up half sunk? Why hasn't it been righted? What, for heaven's sake, is in that wooden chest?

It's a mystery!

Holidays & Traditions

Today is the day the Dutch celebrate Sinterklaas. It's a celebration of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, and is a gift-giving holiday. Sinterklaas officially arrives in The Netherlands in early November, coming by boat from Madrid, with his black-faced Zwart Piet. I've been told the Zwarte Piet are black because they are covered in soot from going up and down the chimneys delivering presents, but no one's been able to tell me why exactly Sinterklaas comes in from Madrid...

Between Sinterklaas' arrival and Dec. 5, it's traditional to give chocolate letters. At our office on Friday, we were each given a chocolate letter representing our first name, but it's also common to receive an "S", for Sinterklaas.


Children leave their shoes out for Sinterklaas, with carrots or hay for his horses, and presents are delivered on the front stoop -- the bell is rung, and when the door is answered, no one's there except presents.

As for exchanging presents, among adults it's common to do a sort of Secret Santa like approach -- you buy a gift for someone, and they don't know who it is from. As part of this, there's the writing and reading of poems. Short, funny, and typically rhyming, they're read to the person for whom they're about. Again, not sure how this fits into the whole celebration, but it's a continuing practice.

In fact, I have to create a poem for a Sinterklaas party tomorrow. A coworker invited me to her place to celebrate with a small group of her girlfriends, most of whom are also expats. She assigned people their Secret Santas, and is including the poem part. Need to get cracking on that!

December 25th here, from what I've been told, is more about gathering family together for a meal, and is less focused on exchanging presents than it is in the States. Christmas trees are scarce -- and expensive. But there are tiny white lights draped between the buildings on all of the shopping streets in the area, which gives off a magical feeling after the sun goes down.

And I can't not write about oliebollen! This is a tradition I wouldn't mind having back home. Think balls of fried dough, crisp on the outside, mushy and thick on the inside, slathered with powdered sugar that melts upon contact. They're only available at this time of year, and are sold out of fair carts on the corners of the streets.

I had one a couple weekends ago and fell head over heels for it. I grabbed a bag of them on my way home from shopping this afternoon (yes, I said a bag of them!), and am looking forward to devouring them over the weekend.

Obviously, Thanksgiving isn't celebrated here, and I did have to work that day. As holidays go, that was ok by me, as I've never been overly enthusiastic about Thanksgiving. I did join my boss and his family at his house for a turkey dinner that following Saturday, though. Did you know there's no turkey industry in The Netherlands? This bird had to be shipped in from Germany from some free-range, organic farm, and for a 10-pounder -- 60 euros. That's about $90!

What these experiences have made me think about is which elements of holidays are really important to me. Food is one. :) But I also really enjoy the process of finding the perfect gift for someone, and spending time with people who are important to me. It was harder to be home alone Thanksgiving evening than I first thought it would be, when every one I care about was with family and friends.

I'm really looking forward to being home for Christmas.

Bike Commute

One week under my belt, commuting by bike.

I have a route well established, one that is fairly direct, avoids most of the major roadways, crosses only a couple major intersections, and contains as few left turns as possible. Door to door, the commute is about 30 minutes, and while that's about the same time it takes by tram, at least commuting this way makes the timing predictable. Tramming it in or out means I have to hit the tram stop at just the right time to catch the train, or I end up waiting 10 or more minutes for the next one.

After the first couple of days, I began to wonder if this was such a good idea after all. My knees ached while I rode, and my legs ached at night while I slept. By the middle of the week, it was my thighs that were feeling the pain. But by the end of the week, I'd figured out a comfortable posture, cadence, and knew the route well enough that I could better anticipate where I needed to put in additional power to get over the few inclines along my route. I believe it will only get better over time, and maybe I can even cut down my commute by a few minutes as my speed improves.

I've also been trying to take in my surroundings along this new route, and I've noted that I ride by at least three bakeries (that are open) on my way to work. Good to know if I ever crave a chocolate croissant en route.

I pondered the other day why bicycles don't have a cup holder, with bikes as the primary commuting vehicle and several "Coffee to Walk" shops scattered throughout the city. I suppose, however, the operative word there is "Walk". It's very American of me to expect to grab coffee along the way and take it with me on my commute, I guess. I suppose I'll have to settle for the coffee in the machine at work or learn how to ride with a coffee in one hand, umbrella in the other!

My Bike!

After two weeks living in Amsterdam, I made the leap and bought a bike. So now I can zip to and from work at my own pace (not having to wait for or rush to the tram) and really get the feel for what it's like to be a resident of Amsterdam.

It's a second-hand bike, a Batavus. It's black and grey, with red saddle bags, a bell, and a red chain lock. I chose hand brakes over pedal brakes at the recommendation of the gentleman who sold it to me.


The bike weighs a ton, but it's sturdy. Although pictured here parked outside, I do have indoor storage for it at my apartment and at work, so that should fend off rusting. It should also hopefully ward off theft, but I've been assured I will lose at least one bike to being stolen while I'm here. Until that time, though, I'm looking forward to having this be my new partner in exploration.

Rain

Update: By 1 pm it was sunny, though brisk. I took a ride from my apartment to VondelPark and made it there and back in one piece. It's currently cold and windy again. Gotta love the weather here.

Home for Now

One week under my belt. And it feels good. I've got a rhythm down, know where most of the critical items are, feel like I'm doing ok fitting in. (In fact, I must look like I know what I'm doing. I've been approached at least 6 different times about directions! In some cases, I've been able to help.)

My apartment building faces a canal, but I look over the back garden, which gives me trees and green, which I love, and then I get the experience of water when I leave my apartment. It's the best of both worlds, in my opinion.
I wondered how it'd be moving into a furnished apartment. I chose the furnished route because it was incredibly more easy than shipping a good percentage of my stuff overseas, and I really didn't want to worry about that. But the last time I was in a furnished place, it always felt like I was living in someone else's house. Which, essentially I was.

So far, though, my apartment here feels good. I chose it because it matched my tastes, and has a spare room for guests. I'm composing this as I sit in the guest room, actually, as it's getting the brightest sun of the afternoon of the three rooms with windows. And those who know me well know how much I need sunlight. :)

Each day, I'm making new discoveries, whether it's what's in my neighborhood, as I've described below, or nice-to-knows about my apartment (for example, I needed and found some tape in one of the drawers.) It's fun, these little discoveries. I get a rush out of the exploration, of uncovering, of understanding.

Cross the Street

I had a real eye opening experience yesterday. I had been taking the same route to explore my new neighborhood here in Amsterdam, even walking on the same side of the street. I'd been kind of concerned about my route to the tram stop, as the sidewalk was dark (overhung by a 5-story building that spans a full block), there's construction of the underground metro happening in the middle of half the street, and there seemed to be no inviting stores or restaurants along my route.

However, yesterday morning I crossed the street and walked along the other side of the road, and discovered practically a new world. There are specialty stores (an organic food store, a bakery with tempting chocolate treats in the window), a burger joint, a juice bar, espresso bar, couple of traditional local bars, a couple coffeeshops, and a croissant place I'm dying to try.

I took the same route back home tonight and actually discovered a few additional places I didn't realize were there on the first pass. For example, there's a comedy club nestled between a few of the above mentioned shops.

I was really struck at how changing a simple part of a routine, of taking a path that provides a different perspective can really change an impression, influence an opinion, and open up opportunities.