Halloween and Thanksgiving 2008

Okay, with Italy and everything I'm a little behind, but this should catch everyone up. The plan which formed a week or so before the 31st was to meet at a pub/bar that was having a Halloween party hosted by an expat organization not far from Central Station. Plenty of costumes would be on display and even prizes were to be awarded. Radhika and I, Jamie and Elena, Brad and Natalia, Szolt, and other friends were in on the plan. Radhika and I were going to pull out our punk rocker garb and getup from several Halloween's back. But I really wanted to do something different, but wasn't sure what. Besides, my hair didn't have 3 years of growth which was "the 12 inch spiked cherry on top" of my look back then! Luckily, there is a costume shop not far from the apartment where most of us ending up going to get what we needed. As I walked around the small, multi-leveled store squeezing past the mostly female 20-somethings, I wasn't getting a strong reaction on my "idea factory" from any of the costumes of props. I was leaning in one direction and then saw a pair of pointy ears. From then it was downhill. As a kid I went as Capt. Kirk 1 or even maybe 2 times trick or treating. But lets face it, I'm more Spock looking than I am Kirk. So, with a little work with the material I had on hand back at the apartment, I was set. R was "punking out" again, so all that was left was the night we "geared up" and went out.

I got way more compliments on my outfit then I expected (which was zero). The Dutch really like Star Trek here, with the original series and Next Generation on their Sci Fi channel. Radhika and Natalia really covered the details in the costumes, as did as Elena. They looked really great. Brad was "demonic", as was Szolt, and Jamie was Aussie Elvis. We enjoyed ourselves at the expat function, but were a little suspicious of the "winners" of the contest. We kept asking how we would enter, hearing you fill out a form (which we never saw even one of), people vote, and you go up onstage (basically a small platform where the guitarist/singer was stationed) and people applaud for their champion. Well, all of a sudden, while the entertainment was on break, they arbitrarily announced 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners! How they were determined we'll never know!! But the costumes that won were not better then some in our group. We left soon after, heading to another bar towards the Jordaan. That one was much smaller, and was populated by several GE employees. We stayed there for quite a long time before calling it a night, with me (walking back), Radhika, and Natalia (weaving back). When we were somewhat close to Natalia's place, one guy hanging on the street asked that I share one of the ladies I had in my company. It was a tough decision, but I had to say they were both mine for that evening. He looked quite sad. He tried the request again, being the persistent little Dutchy that he was, but I just could not share the "funky punky" or the pirate who was going to "shiver me timbers"!! ;) We got home, my guess, around 3am, which ended a fun evening.

Thanksgiving was a much more subdued event. A little strange when you first hear of it - - Thanksgiving dinner at a Greek restaurant. However, this is somewhat of an Amsterdam GE tradition. Someone who worked at GE who has since taken a position in London arranged this some years back, and it continues on. The originator even came in from London to attend, as he has become close friends of the restaurant owners and staff. About 30 or so people were there, including Natalia (Polish Pirate), a mutual friend Szolt (but NOT to be confused with the Halloween Szolt who is a GE employee but didn't come to the dinner), Dave Conover, Jamie Harrison (Aussie Elvis) Denis, so the food and company was very good. People from the US, Argentina, Hungary, Spain, Netherlands, and more, were enjoying turkey (first time eating turkey in Europe!!!), stuffing, white and sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, rice with gravy, salad, beer, wine, and I started a trend at our table (go figure, me of all non-alcohol-consuming people!!) by ordering a glass of Bailey's. We have NOT seen turkey in any grocery store or restaurant - - not just here in Amsterdam, but in our travels here since arriving. The 4 turkeys served last night were possibly flown in, as turkey seems to be fowl only found in the US. Dessert was an apple/raisin and some other ingredients I didn't identify - pie with a scoop if ice cream. STUFFED!!! I couldn't even finish all of my pie (and many of you know of my deep affection for pie!). Once everyone was finished eating and some had left the restaurant (about 11:20pm), so Greek dancing behind the bar started and soon dishes were being tossed to the floor. I wondered how the Greek Pilgrims managed to break their wooden bowls or steel plates at the first Thanksgiving. Come midnight after about 5 hours of Thanksgiving festivities, when the numbers had dwindled down to about 10 GE folks left, I was ready to head back to the teepee to see what football teams were playing (unfortunately it was Dallas and Seattle). Radhika, as usual, still had 2 more hours of socializing in her, so she stayed on with Natalia while Szolt rode his bike and I walked home. After several minutes of boredom watching the Seahawks do their best impression of a high school team, I called Thanksgiving 2008 over a little before 2am! Hope everyone had as good a Thanksgiving who celebrated one!! Pictures to follow shortly, so check back.