Snow in Purmerend

It snowed on Saturday in Purmerend! It was just a dusting, and only lasted about an hour, but it was still very pretty, and a little exciting for this Florida girl. Atlas had fun in the fenced in soccer field. I don't know if he has ever seen snow, but he seemed to like it!

We also went to Rotterdam on Saturday, for a house warming party for one of G's friends. She has a French boyfriend who is also having trouble finding a job that doesn't require Dutch, but he has slightly more marketable skills than I, who specializes in cleaning up tiger poop. A valuable skill, to be sure, but as tigers are not common in the wilds of the Netherlands, it is hard to find a company that values that on a resume.

But who cares about jobs and money. It snowed!

Ghosts of Amsterdam

This is a beautiful and haunting set of photos of today's Amsterdam overlaid with WWII images.

These people and places saw the horrors of occupation and survived.

See more here. 

The Melkweg

Went to my first concert at the world famous Melkweg in Leidseplein, Amsterdam.

What a cool venue. TWO concert stages, a theatre, a cinema, and a gallery for photography. A draw bridge that goes across Leidsegracht(leidse-canal) too. This night was a gift from G's friend, J, who joined us, along with her brother. 

The lineup was a bunch of mostly Dutch bands, but lots of different genres and sounds. (link to band list)

De Kast (The Closet)


Blaudzun: I really liked these guys, but I think it is weird that they sing in English, but a lot of Dutch bands do! I asked G about this, he responded that they just like the way it sounds.


Moke: These guys were really good, big, room filling music, a very entertaining guitarist, shaggy hipster hair.

It was a fun night! I have a feeling I will be returning to the Melkweg soon.

Watch out Nederlanders!

Because this American Girl is now a legal resident!

Actually what I should say is thank you for being an efficient and welcoming host country and for getting my permit approved with such haste. Ik hou van Holland!

Van Gogh said that Holland is a land with a "great grey nature". So, in this vein, I took a lot of black and white studies around the city, with my little android phone (and I rather like the effect)
Spent more than 8 hours wandering around Amsterdam, getting totally lost, loving every moment looking at the 17th century city in all its glory. I want to peek in so many windows and check out the plaster walls, steep stairs, sculptural crown molding and illuminated ceilings. I also like to pretend that people wearing big white lace ruffs and pearl ear bobs still live there.

Look what my awesome peeps sent!

My irreplaceable coworkers at home sent me a care package!

Yay! What a thoughtful and sweet gift! We haven't hung it up yet, (it is too windy at the moment!) but I very much look forward to hearing Clair De Lune chiming out side my window. Beautiful!

And they sent me the most thoughtful of gifts:

Build your own Blingee

Thanks guys! Love you and miss you. :)

A Walk in the Woods

I was desperate to get out into some wild, and luckily, G knew just the place.

 This is a protected wood, with big gorgeous trees, bright yellow fall leaves, orange and red berries bright against a chartreuse background.  G tried to explain that it was a place for rain water to be filtered into sweet water for drinking. It is actually right next to the beach, but we didn't make it that far today. What we did was take Atlas for a nice long walk, which would have been lovely in itself, but there were some fun surprises too.

A few miles through the woods, it opened up into scrub and pasture land. We heard a strange sound, like an alien attack or something, and saw something huge rise above the trees. OMG RUNNN! 

Luckily, it was just a pair of gliders being pulled up by a huge cable. I have never seen gliders take off and it was really neat, just like a giant kite. They are so quiet and graceful. The flights only last about 7 minutes, and then they land in the same spot, are towed back, and get ready for another launch. 

Watch the Glider take off!

After watching a few launches, we headed on, and the walk opened up into more pasture land, and the first animals we see are Highland Cows! I love those fuzzy guys. 

Just beyond their pasture(after a few close moments with Atlas and an electric cattle fence), the Nederlander spotted a little cabin, and wondered if we could get a hot chocomel, which instantly grabbed my attention, as I will be happy to trek some miles for a hot chocomel (met slagroom!). 

It was a very cute little farm house, in the middle of nowhere, decorated with lots of highland cows and draft horse tack, and housing a very busy cafe! Lots of woods walkers looking for a hot chocomel I guess. G had Snert, which is a really fun word for pea soup. It was really yummy. 

We sat outside for a bit, enjoying the wood fire, and letting Atlas talk to the donkeys. 

The walk back was also really nice, sunset colors in the clouds, and the temperature dropping. It was a great day and I look forward to returning. Now to find some woods closer to the house so I can get into the trees more often. 

Cultural Differences: Huis Edition

See this strange device? It hangs on the wall above the kitchen sink. It has knobs and a spigot. It looks like an unholy alliance between a water faucet and some sort of lab equipment.

look deeply into the hole

And what is this weird little hole in this strange device? Let's look closer...

I have my pilot light-cense

My stars and garters, is that a flame?? And are those gas jets?

flame on!

Why yes they are!

This weird, gas heated thing controls all the water in the house. It is our kitchen faucet of course, but when you are ready for a shower, turning on the hot water in the bathroom pops on all these little flames too. Or laundry.  

The benefit to this is that you have eternal hot water for your showers, and if you knew how long G takes in the shower, you would be very happy that this exists. 

This is not "typisch Nederlands" however; G says he is the only one he knows that has such a device. I rather like it, even if we have to keep the kitchen window cracked to make sure we don't pass out with all the oxygen being used by the flames. Unless you want to be light headed, then game on!

Walk around the Koemarkt/Village Square of Purmerend

View Larger Map
The construction is all gone now, and has places for the cafes to place tables and chairs for terrace eating during the nice weather. The buildings are all a little wonky, sinking and going crooked sometimes. This year is Purmerend's 600th anniversary!

Oct 30th: Halloween and Birthday!

If I was worried about the Dutch not celebrating Halloween, I am not now. Just give them some fake blood, fog juice, five crates of Heineken and a few jack-o-lanterns, and they become spooky scary ghouls with the best of them.

We started the day with G carving his first Jack-o-Lantern. I went freestyle and made a scary face, but he went with the patterns that come with the pumpkin carving kit. Of course, he picked a challenging one, with lots of detail, but after a moment of 'pumpkin madness',

 he finished it on his own and it came out really great!

Then a DJ friend of G's showed up, with his full set up in tow, and no digital DJ is this, he had real vinyl and turntables! Best of all, he had a fog machine!!! I love fog machines far more than a normal person should, and would use one every day if I could.
I headed to the grocery store alone, which took forever, partially because I don't know where every thing is, and partially because I can't read the labels. I loaded up my cart, (which cost a Euro to rent) and walked back across the street to our place. I felt like a bag lady! :)

I started on food (guacamole, bruchetta, brie and bread, roasted pumpkin seeds and candy corn) while G moved furniture around, and drove around borrowing chairs from friends. Finally, the candles were lit, the jack o lanterns were glowing, and here comes the party.

It was a long and fun night, meeting G's friends, grooving to the house electronica, keeping candles lit, having some wine, and generally mingling. At one point, the fake blood bottle appeared and turned the floor into a horror show, people that hadn't dressed up regretted it and just started covering themselves in blood. My dear friends A and R from Tampa came and I was very excited to see them and very happy to have them in my new home! Atlas was quite the party animal and social butterfly in between being angry at the fog machine.  Everyone seemed to have a great time. I know I did.

G went as a Jersey Shore Guido, with orange skin and head band, perfectly sculpted eyebrows and beard and double popped collars. I thought it was hilarious and he looked the part perfectly, but I guess Jersey Shore isn't as well known here, and only a few people got it. Ah well. Next year, I think he is going to make up for it, so watch out Purmerend.

We had an axe murderer, a terrifying ghoul, a devil, a skeleton samurai DJ, Kim Jong Il, a french werewolf and his spooky spider woman, a glamorous witch, a hot Mad Hatter couple, Dracula, a gorgeous Dia De Los Muertos skeleton sugar skull, a beautiful Bat Woman(with full wings!) and a variety of other people that came as normal people and left as victims to the beasts and ghoulies. 

It was also G's birthday party, and he got some really nice gifts from his generous friends, including tickets to Burger's Zoo, tickets to a concert, a day at at sauna(for two!), a basket of nice bath products(with Batman soap), a cool jade Hoi Tai Buddha, and some other things I am sure I am forgetting. I also received a huge ball of jong cheese from Edam as a 'Welcome to Holland' present. 

I am still learning about this blogging thing and making photos a priority, and I didn't take a single photo (I was crazy busy anyway)! But luckily, G's beautiful friend S is a hobby photographer and she helped us out.

It was awesome meeting all of G's friends, and I look forward to seeing them with out makeup and blood and masks, and getting to know them better. They are a fun bunch!

Five wonderful days of nothing(and good food)

It has been an amazing week at Chez Weg. Everyone keeps asking us what we did our first week, and really, a whole lot of nothing. But it meant a LOT to us, staying up late watching movies, snuggling on the couch, walking Atlas, sleeping in late, buying things to fit my stuff into the house, generally nesting and making a home that we get to share and actually live together in, and just spending hours and hours in each other's arms; it might not sound like much, but it means the world to me.
Atlas settled in right away, and has pretty much been ruling the house from the moment go.

Atlas(on the big couch) putting G in his place(the love seat)

I also had to buy some proper clothing! A nice warm pea coat, matching scarf and hat, and some cute and comfy Ugg boots have made a big difference in my comfort level in the chilly weather. It helps that I think I look cute in scarves and hats. 

Another thing I have enjoyed discovering is how great a cook G is!! He has been spoiling me with some fabulous dinners, including a traditional Dutch dish called boerenkool(farmer's kale), which is basically just mashed potatoes with kale and bacon mixed in, and served with smoked kielbasa. It was simple but good, I love hearty farmer's kinda food. He also made an amazing red curry, and I am very excited about the ease of finding ingredients for thai, indonesian, and indian food. Garam masala and thai chilies, peanut sauce and fresh fennel all at the market right across the street! Heaven! 

We also hung out with his good friends N and M, who are an adorable couple (even if he left boerenkool for bowling of all things), and got some things ready for the Halloween/G's Birthday party. I guess we did more than I thought! 

A Belated Arrival Story!

Well, we made it. After a nearly missed flight, fighting with the flight attendants to make sure MY dog is on THIS plane (he was), and struggling with two luggage carts bogged down with three pieces of luggage and one dog crate, we were met by my Sweet Nederlander, holding a rose, with a full TV camera crew in tow!! It was quite a welcome!
The story with the camera crew: The Dutch seem to really love their dramatic reality shows, and the crew that met us was with Hello Goodbye. They wander around Schipol Airport looking for people with fun stories about who they are greeting/saying goodbye to. I wonder if we will make it on, because to be honest, I was so exhausted I didn't put on much of a show! But to finally see my sweetheart, and be in his arms again was very very wonderful. I really didn't even notice the cameras until well after I probably should have(or maybe it was all the media training I have had, beating it into me to ignore the camera!!).
To be honest, I really only had eyes for my sweetie. Yes, his mom and friends were there, and I was glad to see them, but I just wanted to hold and be held by my liefje. All this waiting was finally over, and I was with him, holding his hand, walking Atlas through the airport, into the cold air of Holland, and onto a different life.