Cute snacks for Soccer fans

At the grocery store the other day I was craving "rocket pops" which are those red white and blue popsicles. I saw this package and without really looking at the contents, put it in my basket. When I got home I realized it was a variety pack with soccer ball shaped ice cream sandwiches, ice cream bars shaped like soccer players (complete with orange jerseys) and rocket pops in red white and blue (the colors on the Dutch flag). I'm not sure what the ice cream cones represent. Maybe boundary cones?

They're a lot more palatable to me than those sausage logs in the automatic vending machines. I've since learned that those snack shops with vending machines are called Febo, and the sausage logs I posted a picture of a while back are called Frikandel. In the Netherlands, the frikandel mainly consists of a mixture of pork, beef, chicken and horse meat. Horse meat? Yuck.

Dutch appliance lessons

To set the stage here, I don't speak Dutch. I can say "Hello" (hallo) and "Thank You" (dank u) but usually I just look sheepish if someone speaks to me first in Dutch. I typically reply "Sorry - I don't speak Dutch yet," and then English is spoken immediately. There's no "I don't speak Dutch yet" button to press on the appliances here, so when I moved in and the landlord said that the prior tenants had mistakenly taken the instruction manuals, I knew I was in for a mini adventure. Mini adventures are a daily occurance when you're living in a foreign country though, so you have to expect little snags and just try your best.

The Dryer - Dryers in Amsterdam aren't always hooked up to a drain, so instead there's a reservoir of water that you have to empty after each load. I've posted pictures of the controls. You tell me if you can figure them out :-)

The Oven/Microwave Combo - With space at a premium, the Dutch are masters at efficiency. In our apartment here we have one appliance that functions as a microwave AND an oven. It's big as far as microwaves go, but it's MUCH smaller than a traditional oven in the US. I've been known to bake a lot, and I enjoy roasting a turkey, but this year things will have to get scaled back a bit.

The Refrigerator - Also much smaller than a typical American unit, the fridge/freezer is very compact. There aren't any special controls here, but I have to remember that the freezer is on the BOTTOM - and I won't be able to let various random sauces and dressings accumulate here. There just isn't enough room.

We're moved in!

This afternoon Holly and I moved into a 2 bedroom apartment in the Rivierenbuurt (River neighborhood) which is part of an area called Oud Zuid (Old South). It's still considered the city center but is more suburban feeling than the centrum. That's ok by me because there's a huge park nearby (Beatrixpark), and all the stores I need on a regular basis are within a 3 minute walk. There's a grocery store, bike shop, housewares store, vet, pet shop, nut and cheese shop, Italian grocer, health food store and dry cleaner all within a few blocks, and there are tons of restaurants from Thai and Indian to Japanese, Chinese and pizza.

Transportation is great too. We can walk to the RAI train station in 20 minutes, and have tram service just 5 minutes away. My commute to work is 30 minutes on tram 12, and Brett can cycle to his office in 5 minutes. If we want to be in the hustle and bustle of the city center we can be there in 10 minutes by taking a tram. We're also walking distance from the Albert Cuypmarket and Museumplein where all the major museums are located.

The landlords are also very nice and the wife gave me a big hug as she left. She said that she'd be glad to go out for coffee or take the dog for a walk with me since I don't know many people here. It was a really nice gesture. I continue to be amazed by the hospitality here. In my entire year in California I haven't had as many coffee invites as I've had in 3 weeks in Amsterdam! She's a really interesting woman as well. Originally from Hong Kong, lived in California for a number of years and then married a Dutch man 13 years ago. She promised to give me a great dumpling recipe and to tell me the best places for dim sum in Amsterdam. That's my kind of landlord :-)

I'll post more in the coming days about some of the interesting traits of apartments here and the funny groceries I've seen. Potato chips flavored like barbeque ham anyone?

I'm all smiles tonight

As I mentioned in an earlier post, Holly and I are moving into the apartment tomorrow. That's great on its own, but what really has me smiling is 2 encounters that I had today:

I learned today that my friend Damion and his roommate Kevin had cleared their whole weekend *just in case* I needed help moving into my apartment. They also offered to take me shopping with their car to pick up the odds and ends that I might need to get settled. That might not sound like much, but Damion is someone I've only seen a handful of times in my life.

He shared an apartment in Amsterdam with a former co-worker of mine, and I stayed with them for a weekend in 2000. My co-worker returned to the US, but a few years later, Brett and I visited Amsterdam and Damion took us around the country, visiting Rotterdam, Haarlem and The Hague. A few years after that, my dad and I stayed with them for 5 days and they took us to the Dutch archives in Rotterdam and Leiden so my dad could do geneology research. My dad still talks fondly about that trip. Fast forward to 2008 and they've been the best resource I've had in settling into my new home. I'm SO lucky to have met them. Damion and Kevin will truly be a lifelong friends and I can never repay them for their kindness.

My second encounter was with a woman who works at the hotel. Every day Holly and I would walk past the business center and a woman working there would come out to pet Holly and chat with me for a few minutes. It was really cute, as Holly became accustomed to these greetings and would perk up and start wagging as soon as we approached the area - even if if was well past the business center's normal hours. Anyway - today was our last walk by the business center. We met our new friend and wished each other well.

Then this evening I got a call from the concierge. He said he had something to bring me and that he was on his way up. He arrived with a letter and a small box of Dutch porcelain magnets. I thought it might be a gift from the hotel management because I've spent so much money on Internet the past 3 weeks - but in reality it was a nice note from the woman in the business center. She just wanted to wish us well in our new apartment and said that if I didn't know anyone in Amsterdam that she'd be glad to meet me for coffee or attend a movie some day!

It was such a nice gesture. I called to thank her and will definitely take her up on her offer one day soon. I said in one of my very first posts that the Dutch are incredibly welcoming - and today absolutely confirms it. I am a VERY lucky girl. How did she know that I collect magnets? :-)

Everyone's got their own version of a Nicoise salad

I'll be the first to admit that I didn't eat Nicoise salad everyday back in the US - but my understanding is that it typically includes tuna, green beans, hard boiled eggs, tomatoes, onion, capers, and potatoes.

Here at the airport grocery store a Nicoise salad includes tuna, capers, tomato and onions - but it also has green olives, feta cheese and honey mustard dressing! I didn't love this version but I'll try almost anything once. You never know what you'll like.

When I lived in London I discovered sweet corn mixed with tuna fish. They served it on baked potatoes and I loved it. I never did try tuna and sweet corn on pizza, but to the Brits - it's a treat.

In other news, Holly and I move into our apartment on Saturday. We couldn't be more excited to be out of the hotel, and I'll be sure to post pictures of our new home and neighborhood. I've also got some fun business trips coming up. One to Paris and another to London. Did I mention that I love this job? :-)

Gourmet water is for sissies

While walking down the street the other day Brett and I saw this gourmet water store. You might not be able to make it out in the picture but there are rows and rows of different gourmet waters for sale. I can only imagine what a tasting would be like there. I kept envisioning something like a wine tasting, where I was encouraged to spit out the waters as I tasted them, and where I ate crackers to cleanse my palette for the next offering. I guess if there can be wine aficionados and beer connoisseurs there can be water devotees - but for now I'll just stick to tap, no matter how low brow that makes me look in a Dutch restaurant.

I also saw this "Sissy Boy Homeland Store" sign at the mall. I'm not sure what the store sells, but I'm guessing it's not wimpy Dutch men. Still, this is Amsterdam. They sell a lot of things here that you can't buy in the US :-) In reality though, they sell clothing, furniture, and home accessories.

Update to my "brush with greatness" post

After living at the hotel the past few weeks I've befriended a few members of the hotel staff. Coincidentally one of them has an American boyfriend who lives in Reston, VA where we own our house. I asked her about my encounter the night before and she said "Yes, the Dutch team stays here. We don't even think about it anymore because we're so used to it. Last night the gates were up in case there were angry fans."

Luckily there were no angry fans last night. Just supporters. I did however figure out who I saw by the elevator banks. His name is Giovanni van Bronckhorst , in the center of the front row in this photo. He scored the 3rd goal in the Netherlands - Italy match, which the Dutch won 3-0.