Today Was A Weird Day.

Okay, It's official, I definitely feel very foreign here. A simple trip to the grocery store, and by the end the whole store is staring at me. The cashier speaking very loudly in Dutch after I told her "I only speak English, sorry" Didn't really help the situation much. I'm making dinner for tonight, so I just needed to go grab some stuff from the store. Simple, right? NO. I needed chicken broth, and it only comes with chunks of chicken floating in the bottom. Gross. So, I had to get the concentrated cubes that you stick into water. I decided to go with what I know. I almost grabbed pork, instead of chicken. Luckily I saw a lady I knew at the grocery store so she could help me, or we would have been having a pork dish tonight. I found everything else okay, but when I went to go check out the cashier said something in Dutch, and put out a sign. I said "Are you still open?" Because this was AFTER I put my stuff down. She just rolled her eyes. I had to pay, and had to use my card. I scanned it, and it started beeping at me. She said something again very loudly in Dutch, and this is when her that "I only speak English, sorry." She then proceeded to talk to me in Dutch very loudly. I have no idea what she said, because by the time she was done the whole store was apparently checking out at that time, and staring at me. I wanted to scream. I'M SORRY THAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND YOUR LANGUAGE. Anyways, I got all the stuff I need so I can make dinner. After a 30 minute search around the store for 5 items, and then having the whole store stare at me after god knows what that woman said. I didn't do much today, just biked around. It was rainy today so I used that time to FINALLY unpack, and put away my suitcases. Haahaha. SO late. And, good news! I'll be joining a swim team next week! I'm excited because I kind of miss swimming, and it will be a good way to meet people. It's not that hardcore either, only about 3 times a week which is perfect.

This morning I found out that we have window cleaners that come. I was eating my peanut butter on bread, and I turned around because I saw a shadow. Only to look out the window and see a man with tattoos, chains, MISSING TEETH, and piercings who slightly resembles a naked mole rat. (I provided a link, click it.) Actually, he considerably resembled a naked mole rat. This can be alarming at 9:00 am, freshly woken, and in PJ's. What even worried me further was that he was staring blankly into the kitchen window, holding a ladder. I was concerned for my safety. I quickly put down my food and dashed over to the couch to hide. I thought I was safe. About 20 minutes later I hear a tap on the big window RIGHT BY the couch. I look up, and hey! It's my friend with tattoo's, chains, and piercings. I thought Really? Is this happening RIGHT NOW? at 9:30 AM. I figured out that he was a window cleaner. And then suddenly, he vanished. He didn't go through the back gate, he was just gone. The windows are clean though. This was definitely scary, because I've never had an experience of someone with missing teeth staring into my window with a ladder at 9:00 am.

Wow. So, I Almost Died. And, The Food Is Good Here.

I biked to Amstelveen again today, which is about 20 minutes outside of my town. It's a nice, calm ride along the river. My final destination was the V&D. It's the most amazing place ever. It has a giant food court, a FLOOR of jewelry & bags, very nice clothes, and a Sephora is connected to it. What more could you want? There are so many bike paths, and bike stop lights here. And, for every stop there are two lights, one for if you're going straight, or if you're turning. Makes sense. I missed the stop light where I was supposed to turn, because it looks like a game of connect the dots on the ground, only with cars and motorcycles (or "donor cycles" as my Dad would say) whipping past you faster than you can pedal. So, I decided I would turn at the next stop light, only to get closer and realize you can't turn at that one. Great. This is apparently when satan took over my mind. So I made the quick decision that I would turn at a crosswalk, where there is no right of way, or stop light. Helllllo? Yes, stupid in the first place. But then I decided that I was a biker, so I OBVIOUSLY have the right of way. WRONG. Cars move fast here. I did look before I crossed - no cars but, when I was crossing a car was coming faster than ever and slammed on it's breaks so close to me, and the driver honked his horn so loud. I think it's safe to say, pardon my french, that I almost shit my pants. Maybe I did. I don't do well in panic situations. Ahhhh. It was so scary. Once I finally got to the V&D I took a huge sigh of relief. Then, on the way home I didn't turn where I was supposed to and ended up biking 10 more minutes than I had to. I had to back track and use my great sense of direction to get my back to where I was supposed to be. For those of you who don't know. I SUCK AT DIRECTIONS. Oh well I got back home, and stopped at the super market to get some fresh fruit & veggies. The food here is so good, and there are totally different things than at home - it's so much better.

Typical lunch. Mmmm, so good. The bread & cheese is so good here!

REAL Gouda. SO good.

These are amazing. They are basically extremely light & thin graham crackers. They are specifically good in the morning with peanut butter on them. And, people put sprinkles on their toast here. It's weird, but good.

You THINK these are "American Marshmallows." However, they are not. They have a taste of marshmallows as we know - and cake batter? Weird combination but it works. They are addictive. They are popular to put out at parties, I have found out.

This goes out to you, Mum!

Beer - With Dinner?

That's right Mum, no milk! I'm on my own now, so I don't have my mother nagging me to drink milk so I won't get osteoporosis when I'm older. It's awesome. I had my first legal bear with dinner last night. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Maybe that's because if I made a deal about it people would think I was a freak. Today I took a bike ride to Amstelveen which is about 20 minutes or less from my town. There is a nice shopping mall with a few things to do there. Lets face it. Anything is better than Salmon Creek. Aka..most boring place on EARTH. It was nice. The ride along the Amstel river is so pretty, but it STINKS. There are farms and dairys..but no fences. I was met on the bike path by a horse. I thought I was going to get kicked in the head. The horse started to neigh really loud as I rode past. Scary. There are also no fences for the animals, you can reach out and touch them. This is not a good thing, because there are also goats on the side of the road. I don't have a good relationship with goats. I am apparently their enemy. I was bucked by a "watch goat" in New Zealand. It was traumatic. My parents think it's funny. I hate goats. Period. Let's just say I won't be feeding them or petting them anytime soon.

Pancake Huis

Walk to the Pancake Huis.

Walk to the Pancake Huis

Pancake Huis.

Pancake Huis.

Pancake Huis.

This peacock was just roaming around eating pancakes that the waiters gave them. It came so close.

It was Kaya's birthday yesterday, so we went to the Pancake Huis for dinner. It was so good. The pancakes are huge and thin, and come with anything you'd like on them. Or under them, apparently. I had a dead steamed fly under my pancake. It was gross. So, I got a new one. I rolled my ankle a couple days ago, so I went for a long bike ride this morning around town after I dropped Kaya off at school.

Bikes, Bikes, Bikes!

We went to the beach last night for dinner. It was very nice. I put my feet in The North Sea! And, really it wasn't all that cold. It felt good. Bikes are seriously EVERYWHERE here. If you don't own a bike, you probably shouldn't live here. People use them as their main mode of transportation, no matter the weather. Today, I went for a ride to the supermarket by myself, I thought I was going to die. The cars pass you only a few inches away! I was surprised that I didn't get lost either!

I'm Here!

I've arrived, and I'm slowly getting over jet lag. Ugh, I hate it. I'm still trying to unpack as I didn't get much done yesterday. The flight was pretty long but I slept most of they way so it wasn't too bad. I thought customs was going to take a while but it sure didn't. I handed the guy both my Canadian and American passports and he held up the Canadian one and said "What is this?" Well, that would be my other passport. Then I went to baggage claim, and I'm sure that I looked like an idiot. I thought you had to pay for the carts, but I couldn't find a price anywhere and it said "brake release" so, I pressed down on the handle but the cart wasn't coming out so I'm basically thrashing this whole line of carts trying to get one out. Then someone came next to me pressed the handle down hard, and got one out. Phew. Everyone was staring at me, which made it awkward. Oh well. At least I got the cart.

9 Days...

So, I'm leaving in 9 days and moving to Amsterdam to be an au pair for about a year. I'm really excited and I think this will be a good thing. It's kind of crazy though because in less than 10 days I'll be leaving Vancouver (thank GOD) and moving to a land of windmills and cheese! Anyways, I'll be updating this frequently throughout the year with random stuff I do during the day, and where I travel to and from. I'm trying to pack right now - NIGHTMARE. I think my mother would agree with that.