Never a dull day in Amsterdam

You know when you're walking along in your own thoughts, listening to some music, and contemplating what to make for dinner tonight, and then suddenly you see a a guy lying in the middle of the street blowing flames? No? Well, I do:

Job!

Like mentioned in a previous post I have lately been looking for work. And now I actually have a job. I start on Monday. It's a job in customer service for TomTom, where I'll probably be helping people in both Norwegian and English. I'm a little nervous about it, but the company seems nice, and I hope that once I get into it the job won't be too technical for me to do. It's also incidentally the first job I've interviewed for since I got here, so I'm rather pleased that I got it.....

Last night boyfriend and I celebrated by going out for sushi. Mmmmm..... unagi. Being the perfect boyfriend that he is, he also came home with a box of Puccini and some really beautiful flowers... :)

So, everybody wish me luck for Monday!....

Amsterdam bike city

As you probably all know, bikes are a major means of transportation in this country. In cities like Amsterdam that's probably because there are a lot of narrow and one way streets, as well as limited parking. So biking is rather practical, also because of course it's so flat.

It is also quite common to get your bike stolen, so you need to have a very good lock (alternatively get a really old bike, so that the lock is actually more expensive than the bike itself), or - like Boyfriend - a folding bike that you can keep inside. Sometimes people steal bikes to use or to sell, but other times (drunk) people just seem to find it fun to throw bikes in the canals. They have boats that go through the canals specifically to pick up bikes from the bottom of them. I saw one outside our apartment once, and it picked up three bikes within a few metres distance... Here's some pictures of such a boat that I saw the other day:

Cheeky pigeon

This in not the first time I've seen a pigeon inside Albert Heijn,but it is the first time I've seen one behind the cheese counter, pecking away at the old cheese.

Wandelen in de Vondelpark

Thursday I was again not feeling the city love when I woke up at 7.something because the airplane traffic had been redirected over our house, so you could hear the planes quite clearly, and all the time. Our next door neighbours were being noisy with hammers, and across the street builders were throwing metal plates out of windows with loud metallic bangs. I went to seek refuge in the Vondelpark, which turned out to be a good idea. It is one of the largest parks in the city, and although it's not exactly free of noises and people, you do still feel the serenity of nature. It was nice to see and smell the trees and grass (not so many flowers any more, this time of year), feel the wind on my face, and hear the birds chirping. After having somehow gotten myself into the area of the park that was under renovation (well, there was a small path next to the fence, how was I supposed to know I shouldn't go there?...), getting out of there again by going through some stinging nettles and almost falling in the water, I turned out to be on the opposite side of the park from what I'd wanted. And when I got home again I'd been walking for three hours and was far too tired to be upset about anything. :)

Some old geezers trying to catch fish. Though the water seemed pretty still and fish free to me.

A statue of the Dutch poet Joost van den Vondel, after whom the park is named. I would not have known who he was if it hadn't been for the fact that he was mentioned in one of the Dutch exercises I recently did. Now I also know that he was born on the 17th of November, 1587 (Joost van den Vondel is op zeventien november vijftien zevenentachtig geboren).

A willow tree that I naturally had to climb out onto. It was quite nice to sit there for a while. I can imagine it would be a nice place to write..

On my way home I came across a chocolaterie that had camouflaged itself as a fish/shoe store. I didn't even buy anything. How strong am I?..

Last days of summer

Summer seems to be drawing to a close here in the far south (for a Norwegian like myself...), and last weekend we probably had the last warm days of the year. Lately I've been feeling, on and off, that Amsterdam is a little to busy and noisy, but last Saturday was one of those perfect Amsterdam days that made all my concerns disappear.

When I was standing outside the Nieuwe Kerk in the sun, waiting for Victor to arrive, the first scene of what may become a movie sort of fell into my head. I am currently in the process of developing the script (very early stages still), and am quite enjoying it. (Incidentally, does anyone know of a disease that is detectable in a foetus before it's 3 months old, a disease that is potentially harmful but also possibly also not? I have an alternative already, but I wouldn't mind some more suggestions... Yes, I know, my writing sounds cheerful, doesn't it?).

Anyway, when Victor arrived we went to see the Black is Beautiful exhibition inside the church. The exhibition focuses on the representation of black people in Dutch art throughout the ages, accompanied by interesting facts about people and history. There were some really nice paintings, and there were also little monitors placed around the room, which offered background stories on paintings and painters. It was very interesting and well done. Though the lighting was sometimes unfortunate, since it reflected off the glass in front of some paintings, so you had to stand in really weird angles if you wanted to see the work properly. Among the interesting things I learnt while I was there was that Moses was apparently married to an Ethiopian woman before he married a second white one. Since this has later been deemed improper it was edited out of the Bible, but there still remain paintings of it (since I am not terribly familiar with the details of the Bible and it's history, I can't vouch for the truth of this, but am merely relaying what was written in the exhibition). I also learnt that in the late 1800's there was an exhibition of Surinamese people on Museumplein. They actually imported Surinamese people to stand around and be ogled at, like animals in the zoo. Though at the time I suspect they thought nothing of it. But the Surinamese people were apparently not happy with the way they had been treated, and had been given certain promises that were not fulfilled. Interestingly, I recently read an article about a similar situation in Norway, but then with Sami people, and as late as the 1930's. They were basically paid to act like the stereotype Sami so people could look at them, and then when the show was over they got to go back to their normal life. It seems strange to think about that this was an acceptable thing to do at the time. It's one of those things that makes me wonder what people are going to object to in 100 years that we find perfectly normal now..

Anyway, the exhibition is on until the 26th of October, and is highly recommended for anyone who might have the chance to see it.

After the exhibtion we headed home, for some of Boyfriend's super yummy pancakes, which I think all our previous house guests have been treated to. And later we went out for a little drink around the corner, at the Wynand Fockink proeflokaal. A charming old bar that serves a large variety of liquors in small glasses that they fill up to the point where you have to bend down over the bar to take the first sip before you can lift the glass up. Some of my previous guests are probably familiar with this bar as well. :)

In the evening we went to the movies to see The Dark Knight. The movie was good, and Heath Ledger did indeed pull off a very convincing crazy, though I still don't think the movie was all it has been cracked up to be. Then again, I wasn't expecting it to be.

It's so nice to have interesting exhibitions, nice bars and movie theatres in the immediate vicinity of our apartment. And when we were walking back from the theatre, the little bridge lights and the lampposts were reflecting their light on the water of the canals, and I was completely in love with Amsterdam again....

I'm puzzled

What the heck do people want with 'glasses' like this, and what are they supposed to be good for? When I asked the man selling them, he said "Uuh... they're for the sun" and shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Can anyone provide a better answer?



I found the glasses (which I do think I might've seen elsewhere a few times already) at yet another market I stumbled across today. Where they naturally sold lots of fabulous stuff that I can't buy because I have no money. And of course sometime in the distant future when I have some money again, there will be no fabulous stuff to buy. This top was also kinda funny, and I would've considered buying it for Boyfriend if it had come in a man's shirt (and I'd had any money), since he's a total Pizza Hut Slut.


I have also discovered that the Netherlands is more exotic than I thought, when I saw several houses with grapevines around their entrances, with actual, real, ripe grapes. I thought that only happened in countries like Italy, Greece, Spain etc. Cool.

Norway

Dear reader(s),

Sorry for my lengthy absence due partly to me being on holiday, and partly to me not feeling like writing anything.

I went on sort of a tour of Norway with Boyfriend earlier this month, to visit places I used to live, my friends and family and attend my dearest friend's wedding. It was a busy, emotional and lovely time.

First we went to visit my mother, her husband, my little sister and their new and super cute cat. That purrs as soon as you pick her up. I fell in love immediately...

We also went fishing and lost two pieces of bait and caught one minuscule little fish that we just let back into the water. And we had one sightseeing day in Oslo where we went to the Munch museum to which I've never been, something I enjoyed immensely. We also went to Vigelandsparken and had a look at sinnataggen...

... AND we went to the movies to see Mamma Mia! I'm totally going to buy that on DVD, so I can sing as loud as I want to while I watch it.. Apparently our whole row of seats were already moving because I was dancing around in my seat. If you want to believe Boyfriend, that is....

And here, a special treat - the royal residence aka. the big yellow block (I always thought it was disappointingly plain and ugly):

While we were in the south we went off for the weekend to celebrate Marte and Egil's wedding. Which also included Boyfriend's first time using a 'utedo' (out of house toilet). Exciting stuff. The wedding ceremony and celebration were absolutely beautiful (but kinda cold for summer), the happy couple looked really really happy, there were lots of nice speeches filled with love, and spirits were high throughout. Needless to say, I bawled like a baby.... Marte is my very dearest friend, and we hadn't had a chance to see each other since December last year. So meeting for the first time in so long and to such an occasion made me extremely emotional. But it was sooo good to be there. And if all goes well, Marte will be coming to visit this fall. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Me and Marte, very happy to see each other again.

The newlyweds.

Aaaaw!...

In my completely unbiased opinion, the most beautiful bride the world has ever seen.

After that the trip went on to Trondheim. In my completely unbiased opinion the most beautiful city in all of Norway. It's funny how you appreciate things so much more once you don't have regular access to them...

View of Trondheim from Lian, with horseys.

Horsey up close and personal.

Then again, I did always appreciate Trondheim, but I always cursed myself for not having moved every time winter and months of snow and cold and dark arrived, as they inevitably did every year. Still, it was lovely to see the place again, and to see my aunt and cousins if ever so briefly. As luck would have it, we also got the chance to meet some other VIPs:

Mikael in his office. After I had endured him and Boyfriend speaking about computers almost the entire time we saw each other.

Me trying on one of Mikael's Venetian masks. After seeing pictures from his trip there, Venice is even higher on my list of places I want to go.

For some reason in all the pictures I have of me and Øystein, we are drinking beer.... But of course, when you are at Mikrobryggeriet you have to drink beer. They brew it themselves, and it is go-oo-od. Especially the stout. We also had some lovely sushi and some pleasant conversation. :)

Meeting my dear Edith for yummy tapas and a lovely evening at Solsiden. Another one I'm hoping for a visit from soon. (Did you hear that Edith? Get your ass over here!...)

We also spent a day doing the obligatory tourist stuff. Seeing the cathedral, Bakklandet, the old town bridge, the fortress (that apparently at some point protected us from the Swedish..) and the radio tower at Tyholt with cafe on top. Even though I've seen all these places several times before, it was still nice to be able to show Boyfriend my old home town, that I still feel quite connected to.

And we even managed to go for a walk in the forest, something I miss living in this flat and 'natureless' country (which has other joys to make up for that, but still...). I picked some blueberries, and Boyfriend refused to kiss me when I had smeared them all over my lips. What's that all about??...

Boyfriend being a 'Gumby' in front of the Lian lake.

Our last stop was Tromsø, where we only spent a short weekend. It was kind of strange to go back to the city where I spent all my teenage years, and where I haven't been in 2 1/2 years, for such a short time. Part of me feels like we were never really there. I also fell ill on Saturday night, which means we spent our last holiday night eating take-out from Burger King in our hotel room... (I got sick with a fever last time I visited Tromsø as well... Joincidence?..). Nevertheless, it was nice to see the city again, even though we didn't get to see as much of it as I had hoped. We did have time for a cable car ride:

I'm a little afraid of heights, so going up on one of these things is not my favourite activity ever, but it was kinda cool too. And I have done it before, and fared a lot better than my grandmother, who was so terrified she insisted on walking back down. Poor thing!...

And the view is pretty amazing.

We also had the chance to meet my old friend Ingrid, whom I haven't seen in years. Boyfriend would like me to emphasise that we are not talking about him in this picture... (Though as to what we are talking about, I have no clue..). :P

Homeward bound.

All this and more in 12 days, so you can imagine we were busy. But it was all good.

Since last time we've also attended Boyfriend's aunt's wedding in Leiden, which was nice, and included a boat tour (with champagne) through the canals in Leiden - of which I have no pictures. I also had a visit from my Italian pen pal Walter, which was also nice. He now wants me to come visit him in Milan. I could combine that with Venice, I suppose... :)

I'll try to update my blog more regularly in the weeks and months to come. However I am also really starting to look for a job now, and trying to get some more Dutch studies done, so my life might become less 'postable'.. Time will tell. =)

Gay Pride 2008

Earlier today the annual gay pride parade went through Amsterdam, by boat (of course). They went through the Prinsegracht and the Amstel, and people were plentiful along the edges and on the bridges and houseboats everywhere in this area. If I'd been smart I would've brought a stepladder, like we saw some other guy with. And if I'd been less lazy I'd have shown up earlier, but apparently it was already pretty crowded over an hour before the parade started. Anyhoo, as I am 'blessed' with tallness I could mostly look over peoples shoulders. And it was an enjoyable sight. They really seem to have worked hard to decorate their boats and make costumes, and they seemed to have a lot of fun dancing around and throwing confetti and flowers and such. So much fun indeed, that I was wondering if being gay is a requirement for being on one of those boats, because I wouldn't mind.....

Here are some pictures from the colourful event: