Week One

Greetings All!!!

Well, we successfully made it through 7 days of deeply overcast skies, chilly winds, and semi-wet conditions as I checked the weather conditions in Orlando almost daily in the USA Today International edition (always 80+ degrees!). We are hoping to move from our hotel, The NH Caransa, and into a corporate flat by this coming weekend that will be our home for the next 3 months. Excuse me....I must investigate this strange light coming thru my hotel room window...I believe that's sunshine ladies and gentlemen!!! Have only seen it on a couple of days so I had grown unaccustomed to it. Anyway, enough whimpering about the weather. Amsterdam is a beautiful small city. We have been availing ourselves of the diverse cuisine while in our temporary quarters. Italian, Indian, Mexican, Japanese, Argentine, Indonesian, Dutch, are just a few of the culinary experiences we have had in our first week. The food has been really good, with portions much more reasonable than in the US where the table creaks when the meals are brought to the table. However, one must get used to the laidback service you receive here. No, they're not all stoned, just that Amsterdam is quite casual, with none of that "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off I'm working for tips" mentality. Some places do offer quick and attentive service like American's are used to, but others pretty much leave you alone and if you require something you flag them down. For the most part, I like this method over here. Before we came, in a book about Amsterdam it said something about preparing for a 2 hour experience for dinners as it may take longer to get meals. You know how they hover over you sometimes in the states? Try to rush you out to get your table turned over so they can seat another customer? Yeah....not happening here. When you're done eating, you can sit there and jibber-jabber if you like. If there are others waiting, it would be kind and polite to wrap it up so they can sit, but there's no rushing you or hovering.
I have found, in the 2 weeks of exposure that I have had, that the people are really nice and friendly (NO, it's NOT because they're stoned!) The dutch men and women are an attractive people who are trim and fit. Part of that must be because they walk and bike a lot as the distances they travel mostly are short, and owning a car is not a neccessity. Their diet doesn't appear to be much different than ours. Portions being smaller could be relevant. Anyway, they are the tallest society in the world, and that's easy to believe. Most blondes seem to be pushing 6 feet tall and many go beyond. Those who are not so tall are probably like us, from somewhere else. Amsterdam is an international city, of course. Tourists and international workers come here. The only races I don't see in large numbers are Black, Asian, and Spanish/Latino. But again, recall I've only been here 2 weeks. While the city is small, I have not yet seen and been all over it's districts. However, there are a lot of European's here, and some from north America.
Okay. Gotta wrap up and go eat some breakfast. I will try to update this and add pictures of interest when I can. Thanks to my campus cupcake for suggesting this idea. I hope it goes over well and enables me to keep everyone up to date and also entertains just a little. Talk to you again soon.
JD