Friday, February 29, 2008

Settin' Up House

Well, our sea shipment was delivered to the new apartment last Saturday morning. I had actually started earlier with the move, packing our stuff at the old place in the Jordaan. Most of it was packed and/or ready to be moved. There were some items already in the car that were given to us by Nancy and Jelle, who moved from here to Ct. where Nancy was working in GE's corporate headquarters. We dropped that stuff off Friday night at the new apartment, drove over to our Jordann place and filled it up with stuff, driving it back to GE at night and then stopping at The Taco Shop for 2 smothered burritos (tasty!). Next morning, we picked up the car at the GE lot, driving it to our new apartment, noticing the movers were there ahead of schedule before 8am. They said we could use the outdoor elevator to bring up the stuff in the car to the 3rd and 4th floor. Words can't say how nice that was not having to hump that stuff up all of those stairs!!! Once emptied, I drove the car back to our old place, backing it up near the door of our building. Luckily we have a bike shop next to the old location that didn't allow parking in front of it. But on a Saturday, and this being Netherlands where most laws are suggestions, we took advantage. I loaded up the car with as much stuff as I could (up and down those stairs!! what a workout), grabbed my camera, and drove back to the new place using the elevator again. The movers were done in about 3 hours, doing a pretty good job. We still had a little bit remaining at the old place, so we drove over to the old place and got the rest of the stuff and brought it over using the old fashioned method...up and down the stairs. On Sunday, we did a little unpacking and then decided to take a break and go see a movie. "No Country For Old Men"...excellent flick...have seen it twice so far. Broke open the boxes of kitchen stuff and found my Sam's Club jumbo box of Skittles and chewed up half a bag. They were so good I almost had an afterglow. It was weird to see our belongings in a place other than our livingroom back in Gotha...but getting used to the sight already. Furnishings fit pretty well in this new place in both size and color, with the exception of the blue master bath... and some light pink walls and purple wallpaper in one of the bedrooms. Radhika seems to be holding up well to all the bright, cheerful color exposure. Those who know our home in Florida with it's all white walls and ceilings and her proclivity to wearing black and gray clothing know what an adjustment it will be for her. But she's coping.
I have work to do, so I will follow up on this topic more later and add a few pictures from moving day. There's stuff all around this place and and I'm finding places for it all to go, not to mention the cleaning that's needed, and occasionally setting out to buy some things (bike lights, mirror for restroom, etc). Until later....

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Random Ramblings 2

I'm overdue for some ranting and raving. I'm sure you've missed it, so here it goes. This one is all about the arrogant, rude American stereotype. I'm sure most of you are aware of it, how American's are perceived in the rest of the world. At least that's what we hear at home. I gotta tell you, I'm a real doubter of its validity. Now I know there are certain places that dislike American's more than others... the Middle East comes to mind. But more and more, as I visit different places and ask questions of the locals, my perception is changing a little on that 'ol ditty. Just as we came to disbelieve the French are snobs after our visit there, I'm hearing (and seeing) American's have not cornered the market on rudeness and arrogance. One of the things I bitch about at home is how self-centered people act. The notion that they are the only beings in existance, and when out in public, walking around, and definitely on the roads, their needs are the only ones of concern. Well, the US does not have the monopoly on that type of behavior! I can attest to that. It's almost a "slam dance" sometimes when I walk down the streets in certain parts of Amsterdam. There's an abundance of people who walk Tokyo while looking Chicago!! I used to cut and move like Walter Payton or Barry Sanders dodging these self-involved chumps. People stopped right in front of me, looking through a window of a store, and right when I come up on them they'll back up right into me or in front of me. Hardly anyone looks around as they walk or stop, to see the impact of their forthcoming action. I got tired of it and now just collide right into them. Hey, it works!!! They get shocked and knocked a little silly (okay...I'm slight but I am solid!) and I brace for it. They apologize and collect themselves. I say "No problem." in my American accent, and continue on. It's like this with the bike riders and car drivers too. Kinda reminds me of people at home, in the far left lane realizing at the last second they have to turn right and cutting across 3 lanes of traffic at that instant, instead of being polite and protecting the safety of themselves, passengers, and other drivers by going to the next intersection and making a u-turn. Lord knows those couple of seconds or even minutes will kill them or ruin their entire day.

In earlier posts I mention my perception to be that the Dutch people seem very nice. For the most part, this still remains my opinion. However, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt. In this application, contempt is too strong a word of course! Let's just say I continue to gain a fuller understanding of Dutch culture with each passing day. And like American culture, the Dutch culture is in a constant state of change. Amsterdam has a considerable immigrant population. Where the US has seen it's most dramatic changes come from Latin America, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa seem to be the major additions to Dutch culture. Amsterdam is a beautiful city. Upon closer inspection you discover the considerable amount of debris and trash floating in the canals. Even with the abundance of street cleaners in this socialistic country, there's almost always something blowing around your feet carried by the wind. And with all of the signage prohibiting pet owners from allowing their dogs to "deposit goodies" on the sidewalks, there seems to be a fair amount of doggy souvenirs out there! I have seen many people walking their dogs, but have yet to witness one allowing Rover to "unleash" his cargo on the sidewalk. Staying on subject of "laws", it seems they are more like "suggestions". Perhaps the Dutch have an underlying knowledge of the law, but approach it as "Yeah, but it can't be for me!" kinda thing. Also, it seems they may not be too used to polite behavior. I was waiting for Radhika's tram to arrive one evening near the apartment, and a number of other people were in the area waiting, I assume, for friends or transportation because we were next to a gym. A woman was crossing the street pulling a rolling basket containing various articles. As she crossed the tram tracks, her load spilled. I could see it happening before the fact as things began to slide out, and had started out into the street. I helped her pick up everything and crossed the street with her. She was very thankful (in Dutch) and as I returned to my waiting space, the men and women smiled at me. I took it as a "...that was a nice thing..." look, but wondered why no one else made a move. I have opened doors, helped a woman in the grocery store, and in every instance I can remember, I got a sense that they are not used to others making an effort to make their day a little better or easier.

Well, the observations will continue. I can't help it, it's part of what I do!! And you get to be on the receiving end of it all. Oh boy! Today is Wednesday, and I'm making general preparations for our move. We'll be using the GE car to move our stuff from this apartment to our new one, possibly as early as Friday night. Saturday will be for the professionals to deliver our stuff, and Sunday morning we'll move any remaining items from this current place. So when after all of this rig-a-maroll is over, I'll write again.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Found A Home

Well, we are moving into our permanent apartment this weekend, and we couldn't be more relieved! Apartment hunting is not a joyous undertaking anywhere, but even less so over here. Finding what you want in a limited amount of time is a tall order, especially when you're looking for an apartment on a canal and near the central part of the city. But, we're generally happy with our choice and hope it will turn out to be a great decision in the long run. We take the keys on Friday around 1pm, and the movers will bring our stuff that came by ship on Saturday. It will be interesting as they lift everything up on what is called an elevator from the outside, and bring everything through the 3rd or 4th floor windows! The stairs are too long, narrow, and twisty for them to bring anything but the smallest and lightest items up. So they shut down a portion of the road as the trucks are parked out front. This is done on a routine basis, as we see it as we walk around the city. Radhika is concerned that certain things won't fit, as a co-worker had to saw their box frame in half to get it through their apartment windows. Well, there will be no cutting the 63" TV or our couch, and those are the 2 largest things we own. It will be a full weekend of furniture moving, setting up our new place, finding a safe place to lock up our bikes, and all of that fun stuff!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Apartment Hunting.102

Well, we're not done yet! Tomorrow morning, we will revisit 2 properties we have already seen as a final run through before we make the offer. Of course when we make the offer and it's accepted, there's no turning back. So we want to be sure. This has not been....fun, just another one of those "gotta do it" things in life. Our current lease on the temporary apaertment runs out on the 24th, so a decision has to be made soon as it takes 2 weeks for the paper work to go through. Once we are settled, I'll be able to stop my whining...at least about apartment searches. I'll find something else to moan about, I'm sure. Seriously, it will be nice to be in the long term place. Just hope it's the one we have our eye on!

Finally got a new stereo in this place! Still waiting on the part to fix the jacuuzi tub in the master bath. We have been in here since mid December and I told them about these things within the first couple of days. From what I'm told though, the Dutch don't move too fast, so I guess we're doing good to have music and hot bubbles in the bath before we leave here.

Went food shopping...another observation. They have not embraced plastic as much as the US has. Packaging has a considerable glass and metal presense here. It's good for the recycling that they do, but it sure makes your grocery bag weigh a ton! When was the last time you saw fruit juice in a can? One monthly trip to Sam's weighs as much as a day trip to the store here! And I wonder if the transportation of the added weight adds to the air pollution. Don't see where they do too much plastic recycling here.

Radhika's friend from boarding school is coming in from London on Friday night. Saturday, we're taking the Ford on our first long distance trip to Brugge, Belgium. Look it up on the net. It's a beautiful city. We did take the car out once already to Volendam which is about 30 minutes north of Amsterdam. It's in an earlier post. We'll be staying the night in Brugge, and leaving the next morning to drop Dimple off at the Amsterdam airport for her trip back to London. She has a Canon 30D, so we'll do some shooting, I'm sure. So, come back soon to see what's new, and I should have pictures up from Brugge. Don't get too pissed off Rose! And I have new images, and made changes to my website, so check that out as well instead of playing solitaire or whatever it is you're doing instead of work (like reading this post?). Later!