Settling In

I have left the bed and breakfast where I was staying, and I’ve moved in with an American who works in my department. His place is pretty fabulous. It’s not huge (maybe 650 square feet), but the kitchen, floors, and bathroom were recently renovated, and the apartment overlooks the nice park I’ve gone to several times this week. I’ve agreed to take an apartment that isn’t far from where I am now, but the lease doesn’t start until June 24th. So I’m a bit of a vagabond until then.

I have been settling in slowly, though. I had dinner at Kat’s friend’s Huub’s apartment on Wednesday with Huub, his wife Eva, and his friend Martijn. We talked for hours about the Netherlands (which, contrary to the information I obtained in guidebooks, the natives actually do call Holland), especially Dutch politics and differences in social conservatism between Holland and the U.S. They were very enjoyable to talk to, and I think I’ll be able to do stuff with them in the future.

I continued my ridiculous amount of walking until my feet hurt badly enough that I went to a bike store and just decided to buy a used bike. It’s typical for Amsterdam: beat up, no hand breaks (so pedal breaks, like a fixed gear), and single speed. I also bought the requisite $50 industrial strength chain that is apparently required to minimize the probability of theft. I hope that I’ll be able to adapt to traffic norms here without crashing, since I am sticking with the “don’t wear a helmet” norm.

And a few pics:

And a friendly white cat

A church near the center of town

An example of the restaurants in the touristy part of town

What I believe is a typical Dutch breakfast, and what I ate for five straight mornings. It includes: a hard boiled egg; a croissant with butter and chocolate shavings; hard flaky bread with thin slices of meat and cheese; and tea.

Me with Jan, the 78 year old man who operates the bed and breakfast I stayed in from Saturday to Thursday. I got really lucky in choosing this place; it was extremely clean, Jan was kind and funny, and I was the only person staying there Monday through Thursday.

Weekdays in the Park With Josh

I only minimally regret not doing more “touristy” things during my first five days in Amsterdam. I ventured into the city center on Sunday to find an adapter for charging my laptop in a Dutch outlet, and my experience wading through throngs of aimlessly wandering (and often stoned) tourists turned me off from going anywhere near them for the time being. So I’ve been relaxing in parks and working on my Dutch lessons and papers and journal reviews. It’s been a little strange not talking with many people (though I have had conversations with the bed and breakfast owner, and I met a colleague from the VU for dinner last night), but on the whole it’s been relaxing after the stress associated with saying so many goodbyes and selling all of my stuff in Albuquerque.

The parks here are little grassy oases in an otherwise very urban (if reminiscent of a village) city. There are only a handful of parks within “the ring” (the ring refers to a highway that surround “old” Amsterdam, and divides the quintessentially Dutch architecture from the more modern and suburban parts of the metro area), and the residents appear to pile in them. Throngs of young people have been lounging in the grass on blankets, the young men without their shirts, and the young women with their shirts lifted up so they can tan their stomachs (though it appears that several of them are surprisingly tan already – not sure if they fake bake, if they’re tourists, or if some are naturally dark skinned).

And, without further ado, picture time:

One charm of Amsterdam is the ubiquitous beer sign above cafes. Virtually anywhere with table service proudly advertises serving Amstel, Heineken, or, less commonly, Grolsch.

I had lunch in the park today. I stopped in a fairly cheap, (I think) independently owned fast food place. After being told I could not have the brie sandwich, since they were out of brie, I went for some kind of ham and cheese on a very good hard, flaky bread (the kind that seems to be everywhere in Europe, but is pretty difficult to find in Albuquerque). I decided to try a "green" can of soda, and, when I sat down in the park later, I found that it is called "green punch." It was noxious enough that I could only drink about two ounces. I'll be avoiding green punch in the future.

Europe is funny: much cooler churches than the U.S., but much less religious people.

There are a lot of birds in the parks.

Pain in the Achilles

I’d wager I’ve walked more in the past 48 hours than Morgan Spurlock did in the entire filming of Super Size Me. It started with a two mile walk around the neighborhoods surrounding my bed and breakfast after I arrived. It hit its most frustrating when I got lost on the already 4.5 mile round trip walk to an apartment I viewed later that day (my guess is I ended up walking at least six miles). It continued yesterday when I went on a somewhat aimless journey toward the center of town – and the throngs of tourists, smoke shops, smart shops, sex shops, and…flower stands – to find an adapter that would allow my laptop to charge in a Dutch socket; this went over six miles round trip. And I went at least another six miles today looking at different apartments.

Implications of this walking include: 1) I’m getting some exercise without actually “exercising”; 2) I’ve been getting a lot of use out of my mp3 player; 3) I’ve been able to practice my basic Dutch skills (meaning “asking people for directions and relying heavily on hand gestures”); 4) I’m beating my running shoes into a pulp, and, relatedly; 5) I am developing a bit of a pain in the Achilles.

I now have three more nights booked at my bed and breakfast (so through Wednesday evening). I do not have an apartment yet. I’ve seen four, one of which was a 500 square foot dump for $1600 per month; one was a drab 800 square foot apartment for $2000 per month; one was an OK, 800 square foot apartment with 1970’s furniture for $2100 per month; and one was a decent 600 square foot apartment for $1600 – I might try to go for this last one. Regardless, it looks unlikely that I’ll be able to move into an apartment before I need to vacate my current residence. So I’ll need to make something happen soon. I’m hoping that couch surfers or some other social networking site will come through for me.

Guess where all these bikes are parked?

Outside the Amsterdam World Trade Center. I'm guessing this means some fairly wealthy people rode their bikes to work today.

This is the architectural style in the nicer parts of Amsterdam (so most of the "traditional" part of the city)

One of the many canals around Amsterdam.

And a rather interesting sculpture in a park.

Alive

To place the minds of those who envisioned a plane crash or an airport mugging at ease:

I am in my room at my bed and breakfast. It’s a beautiful sunny day in Amsterdam, and people are zipping by on bicycles just outside my window. I was greeted at the airport by a man holding a sign with my name on it (first time that’s happened), and he dropped me off at the door of the bed and breakfast. I then had a thirty minute conversation over tea with the 77 year old owner of the bed and breakfast about his deceased wife, his sons and grandchildren, and his neighbors.

So, alive, if a bit tired.

Goodbye, Albuquerque

I’ve been meaning to get this blog up and running for about two weeks. But I’ve found myself prioritizing my remaining time in Albuquerque with things like: saying goodbye to seven years’ worth of friends and colleagues; selling or giving away virtually everything I own; closing cell phone, Netflix, and utility accounts; sweeping and scrubbing my apartment; and, unfortunately, bidding goodbye to my cat, who is not well suited for a transatlantic move.

I now find myself with a bit of down time. After a final apartment walkthrough, donating the last remains of the items I am leaving behind to Goodwill, converting some dollars to euros at the bank, and mailing a few items to my dad in Tempe, I am sipping tea on Paul and Annie’s couch with their dogs. I’m looking at everything that I’m taking with me to Amsterdam (and, effectively, all of my tangible belongings): two large suitcases crammed with clothes and a few other items; a small carry on suitcase with more clothes; and a case for my laptop.

I depart from Albuquerque tomorrow at 10:40am, and I arrive in Amsterdam via Houston on Saturday morning at 8:20am. I’ve checked in for my flight (and I’ve found that I’ll be paying an additional $450 in bag fees; my bags are each about 65lbs – about 15 lbs over the 50lbs limit), arranged for a cab from the airport, and confirmed my reservation at a bed and breakfast in Amsterdam. My immediate goal will be combating jetlag by running around a park, walking around town, and drinking a strong Belgian beer. After that, I’ll take the rest of life in Amsterdam as it comes to me.

And, as life in Amsterdam comes to me, I want to share part of it with friends and family whom I won’t be able to communicate with as often due to the time difference, issues with international calling, etc. Although I don’t usually shy away from new experiences, promising my family that I’ll write about exotic Dutch things like riding bicycles and eating raw herring might also nudge me toward doing such things.

So, check in regularly if you want to hear what I’m up to, and please feel free to keep in touch offsite.