« Bruges overview | Main | Oppression and liberation »
October 26, 2005
I'm not a tourtist, not yet a local
Laura emailied me today to ask if I had done all of the tourtisty things yet and have settled into living like a European. Sort of. I still have lots of tourtist things left on my Bob list and my own personal list but life is starting to almost feel routine.
My one friend here, Christine showed me how to buy a hooded garbage sack (a rain poncho) so I won't get as soaked riding my bike in the rain. She is from Seattle also and said there is a reason Seattlites don't mind the rain -- because they're in their cars! Agreed. In all my years of living in SeattIe I only sporadically owned an umbrella. Now I have 3, plus a rain poncho, gloves and will soon purchase a rain hat.
Tomorrow I'm going to take the kids to a matinee. Karsten has been bugging me to see Madagascar almost every day and I'm finally caving. Unfortunately kid movies are dubbed in Dutch but Karsten said he doesn't care. There is a kid's film festival going on in English but Karsten is set on Madagascar -- in Dutch.
I thought I'd subscribe to Amazon's DVD rental service but it is only for the UK. There is only so much BBC World one can handle before the Asia Quake and the bird flu become overwhelming.
Christine showed me PlayDay, an indoor play area for ex-pat kids. The owner lived in Seattle briefly working at the Evans Group until she met her Dutch husband so the world just gets smaller.
The appliance situation is not good. I have managed to blow a fuse with my hair dryer (now I air dry my hair), blew up the wireless router (smoke, sparks and all), and dropped the carafe for the coffee pot and it shattered into oblivion. Now that I can't make my own nasty coffee and to-go cups are a rarity I'm going through caffeine withdrawls. They need some drive-through espresso stands for your bike...
I am happy experiencing life abroad. I have wanderlust in my bones. Maybe I will let Andy sway me into moving here afterall. Or maybe I'll give London a chance after listening to Bob's trip there.
Posted by jana at October 26, 2005 12:48 PM
Comments
Oooohhhhh, I can't believe what I'm reading?! :-) I think spending the spring/summer in Amsterdam would be really fun.
Posted by: Andy at October 27, 2005 3:34 PM
Really?!? As much as I miss you, I would want to stay too if I were in your shoes. It would be great to have the feeling of being a resident rather than a visitor.
Posted by: becca at October 29, 2005 2:43 PM