March 24, 2002
oh, im so sorry!
Bad thing I find an itsy bitsy pleasure in: Now that the weather has gotten nicer, I see a lot of tourists riding around on rented bikes. You can tell they are rented because the bikes have these huge round placards on the front that say "MAC BIKE". So, when I'm out walking the dog, while crossing the street I like to step right out in front of one, giving them a good scare as they try to slow down. Give them a taste of what it feels like when some halfwit walks into your way on a bike path, hah! Oopsie, am I in your way? Also, I don’t think those bikes have bells, or if they do, people are too timid about using them.
Posted by shannon at 03:00 PM | Comments (0)
February 25, 2002
card-carrying
I may not have a residence permit, but today I felt more like a citizen after I acquired some little pieces of plastic with magnetic stripes in my wallet. I replaced my Safeway Club card with an Albert Heijn Bonus! card. I replaced my Pinnacle Fitness card with a Barry's Fitness card. It's funny that those little cards can make you feel more at home, but really those cards are keys. They allow you to go places a tourist doesn’t go, and probably wouldn't even think about. Now, I can work up a sweat without braving driving winds and rain, and I can get three bottles of spa water for 1.60 euro. I am a now citizen of this city! hee
Posted by shannon at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
February 14, 2002
sexual guarantee
Holland is the land of cheese. And not talking about the Gouda (although the Gouda is good). There seems to be a ton of tacky stuff: music, clothes, tv shows. Mtv Europe is also pretty bad (not like it is a modicum of good taste anywhere), but somehow I am enjoying the crapiness here more than I would be at home.
(Don't get me wrong, there are many very tasteful and refined Dutch things. For instance, there seem to be interior design shops on every corner, each one more beautiful and sleek than the last. Their perfectly ordered modern euro-style invites me in from the street, where I imagine myself sitting on a square-shaped couch, among the white walls and cool lighting, putting my feet up on a wide coffee table and laboriously pouring over upholstery swatches--but I digress. Also, the people that live downstairs have their first floor immaculately decorated with fine antiques, at least from what I can see through their curtains.)
I think I'm enjoying the kitschy-ness here precisely because its so foreign. There is no pre-determined cultural background that tells me, yes, the velvet Elvis rug or the Betty Boop shot glass or the Partridge Family Lunchbox is hella ugly, but hey! Arent they also so hip and cool! Here, the bad stuff is just plain fun.
For instance, right now I am really enjoying this Swedish import: Alcazar. The music is retro-disco, the lyrics don't make a lick of sense in that charming English-isn't-our-first-language sort of way, the videos are also tacky and gross, (horrible dancing, bad outfits, serious posing) but somehow, to me, it's all just a good bit of fun. And its great music to clean the house to, even if it does upset the dog a bit.
Posted by shannon at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)
February 10, 2002
café society
According to one of my guide books, there are over 1,200 cafés in Amsterdam. And I am going to try and sample as many as I can!
Today started off great, I got the dog walked and my run all in before noon. Then, because it's Sunday, I had to go into the central part of town to run an errand. The shop I needed to go to is on one of the more popular shopping streets. The street is closed to traffic, so it has the effect of being one huge open air mall, and today it felt like a huge open air mall on Christmas Eve it was so packed!
So after braving the crowds for something the store was out of anyway, I decided to treat myself to lunch at café Luxembourg. It truly is a grand place, and I got lucky and nabbed a table right out front with a view of Spui square. I had a salade niçoise, which I order a lot, as I am always in search of the perfect one. They almost got right, but they left out the potatoes and the dressing wasn't the authentic mustard vinaigrette, but instead some sort of garlicky mayonnaise based thing (leave it to the Dutch to put mayo in a niçoise salad). Overall it was good, and the service was excellent, which is rare at cafés. I sat there and tried to read a bit of a newspaper with my Nederlands-Engels dictionary, but gave up and just people watched from the window.
I rode home on my bike, enjoying the crisp air and sunshine. I started carrying around a little packet of Kleenex cause my nose gets a bit runny in the cold and wind. I kinda like it. It makes me feel a bit like a kid again.
Posted by shannon at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)
February 08, 2002
ready, steady, cook!
You would think by the amount of cooking shows alone on the BBC, that the English are excellent cooks. It's inspiring to say the least, when you see people preparing full meals in half an hour, sometimes with surprise ingredients. It gets me thinking about what I can do, even if I don’t have a celebrity chef to call up when I get stuck. Or even the bare minimum of tools I am used to working with.
This apartment came equipped with a few pots and pans, a cheese grater and some knives. There is no microwave, not even a toaster (although we did run out and get a cheap toaster.) Only the top of the stove works (for now). (The stove was installed, brand new, when the last tenant moved in. But it seems as though he never actually used the stove, and it doesn’t work. They are coming to look at it on Monday, but it took ages just to get a repairman to come out). There aren’t any measuring spoons or cups, fancy garlic crushers or peelers. I have managed pretty well despite the environment, and even started trying to prepare new things, like risotto. For some reason I thought making risotto would be difficult, but it was surprisingly easy. It's amazing the variety of cooking one can do without any fancy equipment, Jamie Oliver would be proud!
Don’t get me wrong, I'm not a great cook. I merely see cooking as a necessity, as the work you have to do in order to eat. But once I get going I generally enjoy it. Sometimes though, it does feel like a chore to me. On those days no cooking show is going to get me going, it's only going to make me hungry. At least it's pretty easy to pick up a cone of fries (yes, they serve them in paper cones) or broodjes (a Dutch-style sandwich) when I'm out walking the dog.
Someone pointed me to this site about an American woman living in Holland. On it she complains about some of the foods she misses. I think it's amazing that someone can complain about missing Velveeta cheese, or even "California Cheese" in this country. (Of course I never ate Velveeta back home, ew!) There are however, some foods that I miss. Mexican food, for one thing. And American-style energy bars (Balance Bars and Cliff Bars). When I asked if they sold them at our local branch of the Naturwinkel, the guy said: "all these things in this store have energy!!" I mean, he had a point. But still, I want my energy bars! Also, they don’t put half and half in their coffee here. You can't buy it anywhere. Instead they use steamed milk (which you can't replicate at home) or evaporated milk, which doesn’t really cut it. I have adjusted however, by drinking espresso and lattes at home (I know, its so difficult adjusting! hee). I even bought myself a tiny little stovetop espresso maker.
It's just me and the dog (misha, above) for the next five days, Bill has gone off to London for a job interview. Quiet time to stay home, clean the flat, maybe see a movie or two. Ghost World just opened and Oceans Eleven is still playing here. Or maybe I will just stay in and listen to my language tapes.
Posted by shannon at 08:14 PM | Comments (10)
February 05, 2002
2002 Olympics, Amsterdam
I had a wonderful night tonight! I went to a running club for the first time ever. Normally I'm not one for group activities (hey, that’s why I like running in the first place, it’s a nice solitary sport), but if I'm going to run a marathon (there, I said it) then I'm going to need more than books to keep me motivated. I had a small chat with a guy at a running shoe store yesterday who tipped me off about a group that runs close to my neighborhood. They are called Phanos, which is Greek for torch, and they run at the Amsterdam Olympic Stadium.
I decided to go for it, and in very windy conditions I rode my bike all the way down to the end Stadionweg. I started to get excited as I got closer and saw the stadium lights. I have never run on a track before, much less in a stadium, much less in a stadium where Olympic Athletes competed!
The stadium was built for the 9th modern Olympic games in 1928, and was almost torn down before it was saved and beautifully renovated in the late 90s. The tradition of the Olympic torch being carried from Athens to the site of the games was started there, the Olympic flame was first lit during the opening ceremony (I'm guessing that’s where Phanos got the inspiration for their name). Also during the 1928 games women were first allowed to compete in track and field events. Which I thought was fitting since I was having my first track experience in the same stadium.
When I got to the stadium, I quickly followed the signs the running store guy had told me to look for, and I was lead into a pleasant bar/café that looked out onto the fields. I asked around, and although no one's English was that great, I soon found someone who would get me started in the right group. Everyone was so cool! It was so wonderful to be around runners and talk about running. (You ran HOW many marathons? The guy I was warming up with had run the Amsterdam one 11 times!)
The actual training was hard, but so much fun! In some ways I felt like I was in ballet class again Jeté-ing across the floor, only I was skipping on a track doing strange hopping drills. In some ways it felt like gym class, doing 60 pushups (ok, I only managed 45). I think its funny that here I am today, going out of my way to take part in something I avoided bitterly most of my youth. And the best part was running around a track with 22,500 seats looking down on me.
I know I am going to be sore tomorrow, but right now, I feel great!
Posted by shannon at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
February 04, 2002
ik spreek nederlands
In commercials on Dutch tv, whenever there is music with lyrics, its sung in English. The voiceover is always in Dutch, but the song is in English. (The only exception to this is the sex hotline jingles, which are always in Dutch.) The music playing in shops or on the radio is usually in English, and once and a while the shop-person or customer will sing along. I wonder why so much music is made in English, or why its so popular.
I managed to find a Dutch DIY language course (on cassette, now I just have to find something to play it on), but it was difficult. I can't think of a more useless language to learn, since all the Dutch speak English, and they don't speak Dutch anywhere else in the world (besides parts of Belgium, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname). But it will be useful to me, just to be able to read the side of a box of rice or instructions for a children's card game. I don’t know how much I can learn in the limited time I'm here, but if I can just learn enough to get by I'll be happy. I do have the whole total emersion thing going for me. Except for the music on the tv commercials and the American sitcoms (Alf, the Nanny, Aly McBeal, bleh!), the English books in the bookshops and the restaurants with 2 menus. We will see.
Posted by shannon at 11:36 PM | Comments (1)
February 02, 2002
sunny on the inside
Yes, you caught me. I didn't write anything yesterday. My aim is to write everyday. Sometimes its difficult. Maybe because I don’t know who my audience is. Or rather, that my audience is rather mixed. In the end I'm mostly writing this for myself, and yet that is a lame excuse because one doesn’t need to write to oneself. I can just think my thoughts and never put them into words, much less onto the internet. But writing is communication; I feel the need to connect. I'm just not sure who I'm connecting to.
Two questions asked to me at the market today:
1. When purchasing pistachios: "Roasted or fried?" (fried?? yeah, I know the dutch fry everything.)
2. When purchasing oranges: "For eating or drinking?" (I guess a reasonable question, even though it sounded funny. Most Dutch people speak English, yet most do not speak it perfectly.)
I felt kinda sick today and didn’t leave the house until after 4. Which was a mistake because it was a beautiful warm and sunny day today. Time to make dinner and maybe have a long bath. Not much of a Saturday night I guess, but every night is like Saturday night to me now!
Posted by shannon at 06:04 PM | Comments (0)
January 31, 2002
sweet things
I rode to the Amsterdamse Bos for my run. Starting to feel like a runner again, it felt good. I really wish I knew how far I was running, I've been going by times instead of miles. Pretty soon I am going to have to start thinking kilometers instead of miles.
I am really enjoying exploring the park. I ran on muddy trails over quaint bridges, along canals and ponds, through cathedral-like rows of trees and sunny green fields. Unfortunately a large part of the part of the park is under renovations, but fortunately the park is large enough that one can avoid the huge piles of dirt and bulldozers.
The park is one of the many things that I like about Amsterdam. I know I have complained a lot, but there are plenty of things I like here. For one thing, no matter what my husband says about the food here, not all of its bad. The bread here is amazing, even the bread at the supermarket is baked fresh every day. I don't think you can even buy a loaf of American-style preservative-laden bread. The beer is cheap and very good. So is the cheese. And the chocolate. What else do you need to eat?
More things I like: The city is small, and is well served by public transportation (if you don't want to ride your bike). For example, tonight, I can go hear a band play and leave my house maybe half an hour before the show starts and catch a tram. Or, I can walk, and it probably would take the same amount of time.
Treat of the day: sucking on a valentine's candy heart while in the shower. Something about having something sweet on your tongue while warm water splashes over your head is just heavenly!
Posted by shannon at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)
January 30, 2002
cleaning and stretching
I bought tickets for a show tomorrow night and stocked up on my favorite shampoo. I thought I could live without it, but I think they must put some kind of topical heroin in it, because I am truly addicted to it. And its horribly expensive too. I did manage to save some money, however, because I was talked OUT of buying some other brand's conditioner by the man who worked in the salon. It was so bizarre. I went to that salon because it is the only place in town that carries that brand. But they didn’t carry the entire line (they didn’t have the one I wanted), so I asked for a recommendation. When I would pick one out, the man say: "No! You don’t want that, it will make your hair very soft and silky." I was confused. "This is a bad thing?" I kept saying. Maybe something was lost in the translation. The whole experience was rather amusing.
I took a yoga class tonight. Back in SF I took classes at my gym, but here I decided to go to a yoga center, mainly because their web site was all in English. Also because I don't belong to a gym yet. I wasn’t the only person in the class who didn’t speak Dutch (there was at least 5 out of 20 or so) and the class was taught half in English, half in Dutch. It was difficult at times, I had to watch what everyone else was doing. But I definitely got a good workout, I hope I'm not too sore tomorrow.
Posted by shannon at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)
January 29, 2002
Tidbits
I have noticed here that supermarket cashiers work while sitting down. This seems totally sensible, yet back in the US, where supermarket workers enjoy one of the strongest labor unions in the nation, they have to stand at their stations for their entire shift. While I don't think either standing or sitting for 8 hours at a time is very healthy, I'd prefer to sit down, seems more civilized.
I have become awfully quiet since I've moved here. And if you know me at all you will know that I can't get much quieter. As long as I keep my mouth shut, no one knows I'm an outsider (while maybe they know, but at least I feel to fit in with the environment). And then someone will do something disagreeable, like stop right in your path. Normally I would just tell them (nicely) to move, "excuse me," or maybe something not so nice. Now I just let people get in my way, I silently go around. I can be rude if I can't speak the language. Its almost like being invisible.
I don't know if I'm a tourist or not. I mean, I do live here, but its only temporary. And I don't work here. Although I do feel like I'm learning a lot, so maybe I can tell people I'm a student. I think I may go see Songs: Ohia this week. It will be nice to see some indie-rock types in a city full of dread heads and disco-wear shops.
Posted by shannon at 10:44 PM | Comments (0)
Today's your birthday
Its my birthday too, ooh. Did nothing special today, except go out for a lovely meal at the Black Sheep restaurant ('t Swarte Schaep) where I consumed a sinful deep fried foie gras appetizer, a delightful piece of lamb cooked to perfection (a nice thick cut too, not the stupid rack of lamb bullshit they always serve in American restaurants) and some homemade ice cream for dessert.
I decided to try and take some photos today. Some came out good, some didn't. Please click them if you want to see a larger version.
My Dutch bike. 70 Euros! (30 for the lock). It has nifty lights in front and back, and even a bell (for ringing when tourists think the bike path = a sidewalk).
Coffee for the day at Brandmeester's. I love the Dutch word for tea, "thee". The street sign for the shop says "Koffie en Thee". This place is fairly busy with tourists visiting the Van Gough Museum, but this Monday afternoon I practically had the place to myself.
Books stacked to the ceiling in a shop window in my neighborhood. I think it's a typesetting place or a book bindery.
I also stopped by a café in the Jordaan district because my fingers were starting to smart from the wind. I ordered a white wijn, and the woman asked if I wanted one from Spain or one from South Africa. For a moment I couldn't help but imagine those two places, both warm and sunny an inviting, having just come in from a brutally blustery day. I ordered the South African, because it sounded more exotic and possibly cheaper. It was pretty good. It came in a big swoozy glass too. I love big roomy wine glasses.
I took this photo while sitting in the café. I was trying to get some interesting shots of weird folks on bikes. Of course none came by while I had my camera out. I did see a woman riding a bike with two cute puppies in a crate on the handlebars, but the problem with taking photos of people on bikes is THEY MOVE SO FAST! But I haven't given up yet.
Posted by shannon at 01:27 AM | Comments (0)