Yuck

The good news: Brett arrived today. The bad news: I got peed on. Tonight I was walking Holly and a big black dog that was off leash came bounding up. He sniffed Holly for a few moments and then came to see me. I leaned down to pet him and he lifted his leg and peed on mine!

His owner looked shocked and apologized. I tried to take it graciously, and as we walked home I tried not to think about the fact that my foot was wet.

It's gross....yet kinda funny at the same time.

Meat chips, anyone?

When I was at the store the other day I noticed these potato chips flavored like BBQ Ham, and some other chips flavored like Asian Chicken. I wonder if the meat flavored chip craze will catch on in the US.

Random tidbits about the Netherlands

I've had a few requests for a Dutch geography lesson, so I'll attempt that here along with a few other random thoughts. Disclaimer: I pulled the information from a variety of online sources. I *think* what I'm writing here is accurate - but I could be wrong. You get what you pay for :-).

To start, a lot of people think that Holland is the same as the Netherlands, but they're different. The Netherlands is the name of the country, and Holland refers to the name of just 2 provinces inside the Netherlands (North and South Holland). The country is bordered by the North Sea on the north and west, while Belgium is to the south and Germany is to the east. It sits at 52°23'N, 04°54'E which is further north than Vancouver and about on par with Newfoundland. Because it's so far north, it can stay light out until 10:30PM in the summer months. The summers are cool here with temperatures in the low 70s and the winters are supposedly mild due to the proximity to the North Sea (at least that's what they say - but I was here in February of 1997 and it was FREEZING). I've been told that 1997 was the last cold winter, but I'm still skeptical.

Much of the country (about 60%) is below sea level and they've had a horrible time with flooding over the years - but the Dutch are great engineers and they've got a solid system in place for preventing water from coming in from the sea and another good system for removing it.

To keep water from the seas out, the Dutch started the Deltaworks project. Between 1950 and 1997 the Dutch built a series of dams, sluices, locks, dikes, and storm surge barriers. The American Society of Civil Engineers has declared the works to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World.

One of the most impressive projects that I've seen in person is the Maeslantkering which are storm surge gates near the port of Rotterdam. The gates took 6 years to build, and they're the largest moving structure on earth. They're about 60 feet tall and 600 feet long. When the storm surge from the sea is expected to be above 9 feet, the gates automatically close, protecting the port and surrounding areas from flooding. You might have seen the show about them on Discovery Channel's Modern Marvels series. They were used successfully for the first time in 1997, and are expected to be needed once every 10 years or so (or more frequently due to global warming).

There is also a system of pumps in the Netherlands to keep the land dry. Windmills used to be used for this function. As the sails on the windmill spun around, they turned an "Acrhimedes screw" down below. This screw moved water out of low lying areas and into irrigation ditches or lakes. It's all very fascinating, so if you're interested in a deep dive, just do a search online for "Delta Works."

After seeing the destruction from Katrina and the latest flood damage back in the US, I do wonder if we could take a few lessons in planning and engineering from our Dutch neighbors. They seem to have it down.

A nice birthday

Today the landlords came over to do some minor repairs and they gave me a lovely pot of Gerbera daisies as a birthday present. They also invited us to Dim Sum after Brett gets settled. I'm not about to turn down an offer to find good Dim Sum from a native of Hong Kong, so I'm looking forward to it.

Then this evening a friend brought me some yummy treats from his British foods shop. He remembered that I love "Hob Nobs," which are a "digestive biscuit" with absolutely NO nutritional value - despite the healthy sounding description. They're graham cookies dipped in chocolate, and they're quite addicting.

We later walked to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in the neighborhood. The bill for 2 appetizers and 2 entrees (without alcohol) was 77 Euro (about $120)! That's about 3x the price of a similar meal back in the US. The food was tasty, but it wasn't 3x as tasty. I either need to start cooking more again or I need to find a cheaper neighborhood for dinner. We had dessert at an ice cream shop across the street and my cinnamon ice cream was delicious and a relative bargain at 1 Euro ($1.60) :-)

After dinner we took Holly for a nice stroll around the canal. It was a great way to end the day.

Lots and lots of errands

It's been a few days since I last wrote, but I've been busy getting things ready for when Brett comes this week - and with applying to stay in the country.

On Thursday I applied for my residency permit. I had to go to the IND (immigration) with my application and 433 Euros ($675) in cash. It was really efficient and I was done in 25 minutes. Now have a sticker in my passport that gives me the right to continue working here while they make their decision. They have up to 6 months to decide, and if they accept me I'll get a residency card.

I've also been out buying things like a dog bed for Holly, a Nespresso machine for Brett (as a gift to him for coming with me on this adventure) and other random appliances that we couldn't bring from the US due to voltage compatibility issues. I'm looking forward to his arrival and to showing him the apartment and neighborhood.

My friends here are also eagerly awaiting his arrival because he's bringing their American food requests in his luggage. The list of items he's bringing includes: Shake N Bake, Mint Oreos, Cheerios, Ranch dressing, peanut butter and Fritos - among others. It's definitely a hodge podge mix.

The cravings that you get when you're away from home are funny. Sometimes you miss an item because it's a staple in your diet and there's no local substitute. Other times you rarely ate it at home, but then you read or hear about it and suddenly the craving takes over. That happened to me here with Marshmallow Fluff and Aunt Jemima Pancake mix. I ate them maybe once a year at home, and then I read about someone else's craving on an expat site. Now I keep thinking about how good they'd taste. I probably only want them because I know these things are tough to get over here, and once I get them I'll be underwhelmed - kind of like when I tried Spaghetti-Os as an adult. I've been told there's an American food store nearby, but to expect high prices. Think $20 for a box of Cocoa Puffs or $25 for Aunt Jemima Pancake mix!! Crazy. With those prices I could fly home and stock up myself!

I'm sure the cravings will pass eventually - but anyone that comes to visit wins brownie points for bringing me a favorite treat. It's also my birthday today. Overall it's been pretty quiet, but I think Brett and I are going to rent a boat to tour the canals to celebrate once he arrives.

One last thought: I don't get US holidays anymore and the main Dutch ones are done until Christmas. Boo!

Meeting new people

I've really enjoyed my encounters with people I've met here. There's the tram conductor who laughs with me each day as I try to correctly prounounce my stop, the woman I met at the tram stop from Surinam who saved me a seat, and then today I met two American women for a walk in Beatrix Park.

When I was looking for an apartment a few months back a woman responded to my posting and said she didn't have an apartment, but that she also had a Golden Retriever and would be moving to Amsterdam in June. She suggested we meet for walks one day.

Today I met with her and one of her co-workers at Beatrixpark, which is where the photo above was taken. We all have large dogs (there were 2 goldens and a chocolate lab in the mix) and while the dogs enjoyed running through the park together, we talked about things like dog walkers, yoga classes and expat life in general. They were both very nice and I look forward to walking with them again soon.

Tomorrow I go to apply for my residency permit. I hope they let me stay :-)

Shopping fun

Although I have a few friends here that have offered to take me shopping, until now I've gone it alone due to scheduling conflicts. A few observations on shopping here follow. Some are byproducts of being in a new country. Others reflect adapting to my new "city" lifestyle as opposed to my former "suburban sprawl" lifestyle:

1) Doing any substantial grocery shopping without a car or bicycle is a bit painful - literally. I knew this from when I lived in London, but after my first grocery run to the Albert Hjein I think my arms were 3 inches longer due to the weight of the canned goods and liquids.

2) Reading ingredient lables is a guessing game. I've learned that "kip" is chicken -and that nutrition labels are based on a standard 100 gram serving but beyond that, ingredient lables are a blur since they're not in English. I had to ask my co-workers what meat I was eating on my sandwich yesterday :-)

3) It takes me about 5 times as long to find something - if I can find it at all, and I've realized that branding and packaging play a big role in helping me identify what things are. If things are packaged in the same shape or material as in the US - it's much easier to quickly grasp what's inside. Laundry soap was a cinch to find.
But, when I scan the aisle looking for hand soap in a clear rounded bottle, my eyes skim right over the solid yellow square bottle on the shelf.

4)In addition, things are organized differently. For example - in the US, sugar, flour and seasonings are all in the same "baking" aisle. Here, they're in 3 separate aisles. At least I think they're in separate aisles. I still haven't been able to find flour.

5) There are also fewer options for each type of item. For example - in the US, there might be 5 or 6 choices for hand soap where here there's one, and the spice selection was about 1/3 the size of the selection at Safeway. Maybe this is a byproduct of a compact "city sized" store - but I've been told I need to go to a special spice store for the best selection.

6) Grocery stores don't sell over the counter drugs or prescription drugs. You have to go to a separate store for that.

7) The shops have late openings on Mondays and they're only open from 9-6 Tuesday - Friday. Even the "Safeway like" grocery stores close at 8PM each night. Plus - stores aren't open on Sundays. Sometimes the grocery store will open on a "special Sunday" but in general they're closed.

I just have to do a bit more planning here.