The "many random things" part of the prior t-pod
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Amsterdam,
Netherlands
Tuesday, December 23, 2003
Again, sorry for the inconvenience. We have been writting these last 2 t-pods on-and-off for about a month. So you can see, we had a ton of stuff to share. I hope some of you enjoy reading this and it hasn't become a bother.
Anyways, here is what we've been up to around town...
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LIFE IN A'DAM
Our lives in A'dam have become very routine. Julie has settled into a nice routine (I think) which includes volunteering with the 5th-grade class at the International School of Amsterdam twice a week, babysitting twice a week in the afternoon for 2 Dutch boys, Joey and Luca, and regular outings with the American Woman's Club. Beginning in January, she is going to start working part-time at the British School with a 2nd-grade boy who needs a little extra attention. This will be 5 days a week until lunch. She'll get paid, which will be good because I was beginning to realize that we will return to Chicago with a ton of wonderful memories of our time in Europe but only enough money to afford to rent a studio apartment. Hopefully she will enjoy her time at the school and we will be able to put away a little bit more money than we are now.
As the British School will only hire British-trained teachers as full-time teachers, unfortunately she can never get a classroom at the school. That is pretty disappointing as she is now left with just the International School for full-time employment as an option. We're hoping that through her volunteering with the 5th-grade class, that something will develop when it is time to hire teachers for the 2004-2005 year in a few months but we'll see what happens. Julie is also talking to the International School in The Hague and the American School in The Hague but is unsure that she wants to commute 2 hours a day. Either way, we'll keep you guys posted.
We have spent the last few weekends relaxing around the house. We have our 2 usual restaurants that we go to almost every weekend - Best Thai and some neighborhood crap-ass pizza place that delivers. We have found a few other really nice restaurants that we go to every so often but are also discovering tons of new ones as well.
We went to see "Elf" this past weekend. We both really liked it but we think the Dutch are marketing it to the wrong crowd...every preview was for some animated movie, the only Saturday showtimes were 10:30 in the morning and 12:00, and the other 4 people in the theater were a teenage couple and a mom with a 3 year-old daughter. Nonetheless, we liked it and it actually explains a lot for me...I think Julie might be an elf that snuck into Santa's sack and was left behind, opposite to what happened in the movie. We also went to see "Kill Bill" a few weeks ago. I thought it was awesome and have tried to convince Julie to see it again but she was not a huge fan. I bought the CD and whenever I really want to piss Julie off, I just start whistling that song that Daryl Hannah whistles before she attempts to kill Uma Thurman. It works every time. Anyways, it was a cool movie and I'm pretty psyched to see part 2.
The weather's not so bad but it sure does get dark here early. The sun doesn't come up until about 10:30 and seems to set around 3:00. I suppose we'll take greater advantage of those summer nights when the sun doesn't set until close to midnight. It has yet to snow and is not nearly as cold as it is in Chicago, but I must say it is still cold here. Often in the morning, I get to my desk and comment on how cold it is. Sjoerd usually debates me on this and points out how cold it is in Chicago. I think the thing that he continues to miss is that I never rode my bike to work in December in Chicago. In fact, I usually went from my warm apartment to my warm office, spending no more than 10 minutes on the street where I stood bundled up and in some enclosure waiting for the bus (although on some brutally cold mornings, those 10 minutes seemed like hours). It is warmer than Chicago is but when you ride your bike for 20 minutes in the morning, it is cold. I have scaled back on the bike riding as some mornings I'm just not in the mood, but I am still riding 2 or 3 times a week.
Other than biking to work, Thai food, and a movie now and then, nothing is too exciting in A'dam. We certainly are looking forward to the summer though!
BABYSITTING
As I mentioned above, Julie baby-sits for 2 Dutch boys, Joey and Luca. Last week, Julie was asked if we could hang with the boys on Sunday. I was pretty reluctant knowing that I have never met a Joey I can tolerate, but Julie convinced me that the kid has nowhere near the behavioural issues that the other Joey does, so we went for it. It was actually a pretty fun day...this is not to say I wasn't happy when they left - I'm not quite ready to be a daddy just yet (sorry mom). The kids are pretty cute though. I had a fun time talking with them and watching Julie keep them busy.
We took them to see "Finding Nemo". It was a pretty cute movie and definitely a better option than what they wanted - "Loony Tunes" in DUTCH! One of the more enjoyable parts of the movie was seeing the boys situate themselves in their seats with an empty spot in the middle so that they could each have 2 drink-holders and not have to share the one between them. Reminded me of me and Ev - brought a tear to my eye to see such "love". They also both wanted their own soda and their own snack, again so that they didn't have to share. Lastly, about 40 minutes into the movie, I started to notice that Joey was banging his empty Pringles container so that everybody could hear his rhythmic thumping. Despite Julie's constant reminding that he need to settle down, he never did. It was pretty amusing though as I have a feeling that I was "that" kid not too long ago (and in some cases, I am STILL "that" kid).
Anyways, as the movie ended, we all went potty. I went with Luca, the younger one, and had an 'oh shit, what now moment'. I walked in to the bathroom with Luca right behind me. I walked up to a urinal and noticed that Luca paused for a moment when his search for a little man's urinal came up empty. Moments before unzipping, I wondered 'am I supposed to hold him up so that he can relieve himself?' 'Do I know him well enough?' 'At what point do you know a kid well enough that that is appropriate?' "what happens if his aim isn't good and my sleeve gets all wet?' Luckily, Luca is a quick thinker and he entered a stall without a hesitation. I sure was glad because I'm not quite sure I was ready for that kinda commitment.
Following this potentially life-changing experience, we met up with Julie and Joey again. My only unanswered question was 'which kid forgot something in the theater?' The answer was not a surprise - Julie couldn't find HER scarf. It sure is tough being the daddy!
DUTCH LESSONS
Julie and I are now 4 hours into our 60 hours of Dutch lessons that the bank provides each of us with. I have a feeling that my Dutch will be right up there with my Spanish. After my first lesson, I was pretty confused. The alphabet is all fucked up - "A" sounds like "ah", "E" sounds like "A", "I" sounds like "E", "J" sounds like "I", "R" sounds like a Spanish "R" with the roll of your tongue, "G" sounds like Hebrew with a phlegm-like spit, and then, in case you're not messed up enough, "M", "N", and "O" sound like "M", "N", and "O". Confused yet? Me too.
The same woman tutors us both, Sanne (pronounced like "sauna"). I have my lessons on Friday morning at their office and Julie meets with Sanne on Thursday afternoons at our apartment. We didn't know that we would have the same teacher so after my first lesson, Sanne told me that she met with Julie the day before. I came home and told Julie that Sanne said I had much better pronunciation than she did. I don't think she believed me and I probably shouldn't have even started as I know that Julie is much smarter than I am and I will soon be sorry that I started this little competition.
Oh well, I now know how to say "good morning', "good night", and "3 beers please" which to be honest, is really all the Dutch you need to know to survive. As a side note, Julie's dad's assistant is a Dutch woman. She bought him a Dutch phrasebook so now he is also trying to learn Dutch. I suppose I will soon have the THIRD best Dutch in the family.
ILLNESSES
As I mentioned above, our weekends in town have been pretty standard. But a few weeks ago, our weekend began with a bang. I had just finished shaving, showering, brushing my teeth, and getting dressed. I was subtly reminded to be very quiet by a half-sleeping wife when I headed downstairs. I took about 3 steps when BAM, I cleared the last 7 or 8 steps in a split-second. As the saying goes, "One small step for man, one giant ache for man". Julie jumped out of bed and found her husband lying in a lump at the bottom of the stairs. I was ok but man, did it hurt. My right foot got all jacked up and my left shoulder is still in pain. I was feeling light headed so I sat down for a while. I was really not a happy camper but I decided I would continue with my day. After another 10 minutes of getting ready, I realized that I should probably not go to work as it would have been very painful and would've been worse having to listen to Sjoerd all day. We are not allowed to cancel our Dutch lessons less than 48 hours before the lesson so I figured I'll tough it out and then come home and spend the rest of the day in bed. Just then I got a phonecall from my Dutch lessons telling me that Sanne was not going to make it. I'm sure she had a little sniffle and decided to cancel (which for some reason she's allowed to do within 48 hours without a penalty) but I must say, I was pretty happy. I am still a bit sore so all I will say is if you come and visit us, hold onto the handrail!
Continuing our infirmary report, Julie has been battling the flu the past week. One night last week, I came home and Julie said she was ready to go to the emergency room. I know the flu is really going around the US but it has hit Europe as well. The big difference is they don't offer flu shots here. In general, Europe does not practice preventative medicine. This is part of the reason for the lack of bike helmets. This is also a part of the reason for the lack of rope ladders. The only prescription handed out to the sick is "rest". So when Julie told me she wanted to go to the emergency room, I told her that I would take her but I had a feeling they would send her home to rest. I doubted that it would even be worth the trouble of getting dressed. In the end, she started to feel better. I went the next morning to the pharmacy to get her some medicine - I had to wait until the morning and I had to go to the pharmacy which didn't open until 10:00 because they don't have 7-11s and other all-night places nor do they sell medicine at the grocery store. It's pretty weird and a major inconvenience, but oh well. She is now starting to feel a little bit better, as am I from my fall.
PRINCESS
On December 7, my b-day, the Netherlands monarchy was ensured to last at least another generation as Princess Maxima and crown Prince Willem Alexander became parents to the future queen of The Netherlands. It was pretty cool to be here as it basically dominated all of the news, every conversation, and people just had this general excitement. All over town, people hung their Dutch flags out their homes and wore the national color, orange. I told Julie that we should buy a flag and hang it as well to fit in. She thought the idea was ridiculous and insisted that we are not Dutch. Obviously, I know we're not Dutch but I am willing to bet that this summer when we're at the Olympics, we will be cheering loudest for the US but will also be hoping to see the Dutch do well also. In the end, we didn't buy a flag.
Anyways, as I had mentioned in an earlier t-pod, the Dutch like their monarchy and in particular, the future Queen, Maxima. Most people thought Willem Alexander was kinda a doofus but when he married Maxima, they began to like him.
I watched the news conference following the birth and it was pretty cool to watch, even though my 1 Dutch lesson didn't provide me with a lick of an idea of what the hell they were all talking about. Willem Alexander answered questions for about 30 minutes with the then-un-named princess sleeping on a pillow that he held curled in his arms like a football. She's really cute. At work the next day, I told my co-workers that I watched the conference and they told me a little bit about how it went. Two very funny questions were (1) Willem Alexander was asked when he was going to tell his daughter that she is the heir to the throne to which he quickly said, "not tonight"; and (2) a reported asked if it would be hard to raise her as a normal child to which her said "well, considering she is only a few hours old and she's already holding a press conference, it will probably be tough but we will do our best blah blah blah." I thought those were both very good answers.
I think it must be tough to be born into royalty. Yes, there are probably some good things but there are certainly some bad things as well. I suppose one thing that will make it easier for the Dutch princess is knowing that at least she was born into the Dutch royal family and not the British royal family. To be honest, until moving to A'dam in April, I didn't even know the Dutch had a monarchy.
Anyways, I'm not quite sure why Maxima and Willem Alexander didn't have a name for their daughter at the news conference considering they knew they were having a baby and most monarchs have names that are tied to the family but they didn't. This, of course, added to the nation's favorite pastime, debate. People talked about what the name will be and why no name was given with such passion. Eventually, it leaked that a website had been registered by some agency created to serve the Dutch royal family that when accessed, only showed a link that went back to the royal family's website. This also created much discussion as now people wanted to talk about how the news was leaked, why it wasn't made public sooner, etc. Damn, these people can be annoying. Well, after all of this, the baby's name is Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria and will be referred to as Princess Amalia. This added to the excitement as all of the pastry shops now had what looked like b-day cakes with the Princess' name on it.
In other Princess Amalia news, some idiot not affiliated with the Dutch royal family registered the website www.QueenAmalia.nl. I don't think he realizes that considering Willem Alexander hasn't even taken the throne yet, it will be a long time before Princess Amalia is Queen Amalia. Therefore, whatever he thinks he'll be able to sell the website for will probably not cover the registration fee for the next 50 years until this child is queen. And lets not discount the fact that since we didn't even have an internet 50 years ago, there's no telling what the internet will be like when she becomes queen. What an a-hole.
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