What people do while riding their bikes:

So far, it seems to be similar to what American's do in the cars:

Apply make-up
Talk on their cell phone
Change songs on their music device
Eat from a bag of chips/crackers
Pull things out of their pockets
Drink a beer (hopefully this isn't happening in cars...)
Hold hands with another person on a different bike (ditto...)
Carry another 2 or 3 people (not always/usually children) on their bike

So far I've only done one of those things, probably the only one I will do. Any guesses?

House Warming - Check

Had my house warming. I'd invited some school folks and all the houses on my street. I did the latter by writing out invitations (in English) and then putting them in everyone's mailbox. I'd say around 15 neighbors came and around 20 staff. It was 20 wine bottles worth of people anyway and a really great time.

Here are some colleagues and some of the many flowers received (the next morning it looked like a wake...)



People standing around the food (those of you who have ever been to any of my gatherings know I tend to go crazy with the food. No exception. I spent 3 days preparing, making lists, checking them off, down to what would be served on which plate and it was a great success.):



And then people in the living room:



It appears that I only remembered to take photos after the Dutch neighbors left. I put an end time on the invite and the Dutch strictly adhered to it! Crazy. Next time (I'm thinking a winter holidays party, no end time!)

Nothing like a house warming

...to really kick you into gear of settling in. The house warming is Saturday and today the handy man came today to hang pictures, I made 60 meatballs and a tomato-bacon dip. Then, I cleaned the kitchen. Then I relished this moment. Of looking around and being surrounded by memories. Here, let me share.

As you come into the house and look to the right you've got the pictures that I got in Thailand when I went for a wedding. On the wall between the windows is a series of framed post cards bought at the MLK museum when A came to visit me in Atlanta. And of course on the sills, plants. I've got 2 orchids and 2 succulents at the moment. As well as a photo of my grandparents and parents.




This is even more bittersweet as the groom suddenly died a year later. (Thinking of you L and T!)


Here's A at the MLK memorial.

As we continue towards the kitchen, there's the paining by a college friend, beyond that is a framed Russian poster which always makes me think of Bree who is slightly addicted to them and a great travel/photography companion.



Here's Bree blending in in Boston:


As we turn into the kitchen there's another framed piece of Russian art work, this done by a former student, who wasn't Russian at all. Above the sink is a framed mushroom bought at an art auction for charity. Cliche, I know, but there was a nail already there and it's the right size. Of course what we also see is that my kitchen and knife racks are now hanging again. Something that's been a sight in every kitchen I've had. On the island is my Swedish fruit bowl.



Heading upstairs, there are the Russian photos from M and all my framed art deco post cards that I had done in Russia, though only a few of them are Russian. There's some from Alcatraz, Spain and Italy as well.



Here's M and I in Turkey with a great bunch of students:


And then we're in the bedroom. I should have moved the mosquito net more, but there's another piece by the college friend, a silk carpet on the floor, bedding from my trip to visit K&M in Bangladesh, at the foot of the bed a carpet made from the mom of my Swedish friends.



Yep, I love this part of moving in.

SAIL Amsterdam

I headed into the city this Sunday to catch SAIL. This is when hundreds of old, old sail boats from all over the world, like this Russian one:





descend on Amsterdam. It only happens every 5 years and I was lucky enough to be here already for it. There are SO many boats, I don't know how they avoid hitting each other:



Of course, with this many boats comes a lot of people:



So I didn't last at SAIL long. But I did enjoy wandering around the city. Stopped by a flower market:



.

Since living here I've also learned why many of the houses lean:


It's not because they're old and built on water (though they are). But it's intentional so that when the hook at the top is used with a pulley to haul things up, said big heavy things won't bump against the house on the way up. Genius.

Dear Self, Always wear pants!

When you decided to wear the lovely teal/green dress given to you by Mrs. C last year, it wasn't raining that hard. I know. But instead of wearing only your rain jacket you should have also worn the pants, or at least packed them! Then, about half way, when it was actually raining and you lap was covered in rain drops - yet still obviously drops - ie there were dry patches - you should have gone home and either gotten the pants or a change of clothes. Because just a few minutes later it really started raining. Arriving to school physically dripping with rain is not very professional. Thankfully it was only 7:30 and it seems most people don't arrive before 8. So you were able to park in front of the fan to dry out. But you don't really want to repeat this experience do you?

By leaving time, around 4, it was sunny. But, self, you still need to wear pants! Riding a bike in a dress leads to exposure, especially when it's windy along with sunny. And you're just not a good enough of a rider to hold your skirt with one hand and steer with the other, especially when it's really windy.

So self, please remember this day and always wear pants!

Nightmares

The classroom I moved into was chock full of cr4p. I spent my first "work" day cleaning it out. I've never seen more rubber bands in my life. The way I was getting rid of things you'd think I don't have an attachment to stuff.

But, then my shipment arrived...









And since then, I've been afraid to come home.

Did you notice those were only photos of the downstairs...

My bed was covered with clothes. Since then, I've filled a big box of clothes to donate (why, why, do I have so much?) and managed to fit the rest into my closet. The shoes are another matter, but I'm working on it.

I'm still working on the downstairs, but have managed to find homes for most of the kitchen gear with only getting rid of a few things (photo for add)


Ok, back to the organizing...

Oh, RIGHT, today was the first day of school for students! I only had homeroom. I've got a 12th grade class of 15. They all sat next to each other without me telling them too and obviously all got along... what a change that's going to be! I really like them so far and am excited to see them through the year.

As a 12th grade advisor, I'm automatically enlisted in organizing prom. At the first teacher's meeting we were told that we need to make sure that this year prom only has beer and wine... Yep, that'll be another change. Maybe the students will actually stay for the dancing here.

Another Night in Ouderkerk

Did I mention that part of our contract includes a gym membership?! It's one of those big fancy gyms, though not really "Globo Gym" like. So far I've only swam, Saturday and again this morning. We were told that the pool is through the sauna (the naked co-ed sauna). So I go and walk through the sauna, this takes you outside via a covered pathway into a large locker room. I walked through that, heading (I though towards the pool) but kept meeting doors with a red circle and a horizontal white line through the center - a "Do Not Enter," right?! Finally I stop to ask a much older woman who's showering, "Why can't I find the pool?!" Yep, it took me 8 minutes to find the pool. But I found it and swam.

...

Today was our first day of "work." It's still orientation though. My first impression is "pink." Seriously, the walls, the carpet, it's all pink. It looks like I'll have my own classroom, though I'll be sharing it with my head of department (HOD). It's up on the third floor (math departments seem to be always the furthest away).

After work, I went to buy a screw driver to finish assembling my new sofa (bed). Here's the new living room set up. In the lower right, that's the top of the newel post - I was standing on the stairs to take the photo:



And here's the couch pulled out into bed form - double bed side. Ready for visitors!



And here I am enjoying a post assembly glass of wine along the Amstel.


I was with new friends M & L. Here I am with L:

Long Way There

I went to visit a colleague today - one who I think will turn out to be a good friend. I ended up getting a bit turned around in Uithoorn (pronounced out-horn), so it took me a while to get there (1.5 hours). You can see the route on the map I attempted to create (why, oh why, can't you map a bicycle route on Google maps in the Netherlands?! Dude?!). The distance is about the same even though I took (what I thought was) the longer way along the Amstel River out and went through pasture land to get home. However, it only took an hour to get home and that was up wind most of the way. I have to say, my tuckas is not as sore as I expected.


View Ouderkerk in a larger map

I live top right, it's just starting to say Ouder...

Here's a couple of photos from the beginning of the ride.





Amazingly I didn't get rained on!

It's like being back in SF!

I went the gay pride parade today. In Amsterdam it takes place on a canal... of course. And in amazingly, one of my new colleagues lives on a houseboat, on the canal that the parade went along!! It was raining, so we could stay inside, dry, but be up-close and personal with the boats... and with the woman on the boat across from us who was an amateur exhibitionist... and not a very good one at that. She kept flashing the gay boys, silly woman.

Anyway, I know you want photos, so here you go:

From inside the boat looking out on the parade:


Gaymobile (taken just for Joy!), these guys are a bunch of builders apparently:


The best part was that most boats had choreographed dances! Fun! This isn't the best of them, but it's the only video I've got:



Is God your rainbow?



If so, are these your angels?


Looking up river at a Christmas float:

My Commute

I got a bike yesterday. I went back to my local bike shop and asked if they also had used bikes. Turns out they do, down in the basement where the repair shop is! So I got a bike that retails at 900 Euro for 350! Go me. Of course, spending so much on a bike means that I'm terrified of it getting stolen. It's only a 30 minute ride into Amsterdam, but no way am I taking that bike into the city!

So, anyway, I've got a bike, saddle bags and 2 locks, but no helmet. No one wears a helmet here. I keep thinking about my brain and how much of a risk I'm taking. So far it doesn't feel like much of one because there are bike paths everywhere. Seriously. Though mopeds also use the bike lanes, the times I've been passed so far by both mopeds and other cyclists, have felt really calm and safe. So there you go.

Anywhere, here's my bike leaning against the fence out my backdoor.



For as big as it is, it's super light, when the bags are empty of course. See the keys, that's one of the two locks. It locks around the rear wheel. I also have a chain lock for putting around the frame and front tire.

I rode my bike into work today to try out the commute. As I was timing it, I didn't take any photos, but here's a description of what I saw along the way:

Sheep laying along a canal
The Amstel River
More sheep
A vineyard
Some cows
A little bit of suburb/city

Then I was at school. In just 10 minutes. And this was my first time riding a bike in, oh, 3 years. So I'm thinking it'll end up being more like 8 minutes. Have I mentioned I love where I'm living?

It's time for people to start visiting!

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

That's the name of my little village. Quaint, huh?

I've taken 3 pictures of the apartment. Will take more once I've got my shipment. Here's the dining room, taken standing against the back of the sofa:



Then the living room, standing at the forward most dining room chair:


And then standing against the wall on the right side of the table looking into the kitchen:



There are notes on each photo. Go to flickr for more details.

I have arrived

I'm feeling really mellow. I love my apartment, except perhaps for the stair case, but maybe that's because it was really difficult to get 2 50 lb suitcases up the stairs. The stairs are narrow and steep, which is good because they have a small footprint, but bad because I'm terrified I will slip down them at some point because I tend toward clumsy.

The exposed ceiling beams in the living room are painted green. I love it.

The bedroom has a curved ceiling that's really tall in the middle. I also love that.

There are two bins for trash - one for compost (YAY!) and the other for trash - no recycling. Hmph. I can take paper, glass and plastic myself, but I haven't found the closest bins yet.

I have a tiny fridge, no freezer and no pantry. Not so sure how I feel about that.

My little village is just what I was hoping for, except I haven't found a cheese shop yet, though the butcher does have some cheeses. I've been to the grocery store twice. About 5 houses down from me are 4 restaurants that have outdoor seating right on the river.

I went to the bike shop in town today to buy a bike, but the cheapest one was 599 Euros (that's almost $800). Ugh. I'm going to look in the next biggest town tomorrow when I go in to set up my bank account. I expected to spend money on a bike - especially for a good lock and the saddle bags that I want. But, I don't need a fancy pants racing bike. I just want to be able to ride around everywhere. $800, really? I hope not.

Intern David

The following story was told to me by A, one of my closest college friends. I have no reason to doubt her, though the story seems made up.

A works as a theater manager for a small non-profit theater company in North Carolina. Occasionally they take on interns and when they do it is A's responsibility to train and find things for them to do. She finds this to be one of the frustrating parts of her job because it often ends up being a time suck. I completely understand as it's the same way with student aides. But everyone has to start somewhere, right?

So one summer A gets a new intern, Intern David. Trying to find an easy task for him, she gives him 10 letters to be copied and then mailed out to past donors. She gives him these at around 3 in the afternoon. When he leaves at 5 he hands a stack of papers to A's boss and says, "I'm sorry I didn't have time to finish them all. I got through 7 and I'll do the rest tomorrow." Then he leaves.

Then A and her boss look at the stack to find that Intern David has indeed been copying the letters... BY HAND. And on letter 5 when his pen ran out of ink (I find I must restate this part: HE WROTE SO MUCH BY HAND THAT HIS PEN RAN OUT OF INK) he switched to ... PENCIL. He wrote all of these on blank copy paper. What I want to know is did he go to the copier to get the paper out?

As you can assume, much laughter was to be had. A feels lucky to have had the opportunity to get it all out before having to talk to him about it the next day. "Intern David, I want you to know that it's ok to ask me questions. Especially when you are confused about something or think that something seems strange. (Or if you run out of ink in your pen and need a new one (that statement added by me))."

In the buckle of the Bible belt

I was at a conference this weekend in Austin. I was amazed at how many openly Christian people there were. It's been a long time since I've lived in Texas. But it was nice. Well, actually, the conference wasn't so good unfortunately, but I got to see some friends from college and also had dinner with my non-Aunt (she's my uncle's sister (but he's my uncle by marriage)). I just met her last weekend in Boston at the wedding, but she seemed great. So I agreed to let her take me out to the Oasis (great view, over-priced TERRIBLE food, do not go there).

So I get picked up by my non-aunt and her husband. Before I'm even buckled up in the car he's handing me this book titled "Are there Christian Cops in Austin Texas" (no question mark in the title, it pains me not to include one). And then he asks me, "So are you religious?" "No." "Not at all?" "Nope, not at all." "So then you study world religions?" "Well, superficially in college."

And by now I'm sure you're thinking what I was thinking, "what have I gotten myself into?" And he goes on to tell me that he's written this book and it's all about this cop who is and I quote "like you'd imagine Jesus to be." And he was fired from the Austin PD because he's Christian and refused to tasar people and thus didn't fit in with the APD philosophy. Holy shit, have I been abducted by evangelical conspiracy theorists? And so I'm skimming through the book now because if I'm just listening, I might throw myself from the car. And it's just a proof version, but the formatting is terrible and every chapter begins with a bible verse and the prose is almost unreadable. Unfortunately, the story sort of peters off there. He finished explaining to me what the book was about and didn't discuss it again at any point. Nor was I taken away to a tent with snakes and holy rollers to be saved. But I'm keeping the book to show everyone that comes to my house.

Boston

Pictures coming soon. Brief wrap-up though.

Wedding - traditional in a very old, very HOT church.
Reception - mostly traditional, but with liberties. SUPER FUN.

Got to see a few cousins (too few!), got to eat yummy, yummy dim sum in China town.

It was a good time, but I'm glad I don't have to share a room anymore!

But you're pretty...

My sister and I are walking down a side street in Brunswick, Maine. We're discussing the difference in personality of East Coast Northerners versus Southerners, at least that's what I'm discussing. It's noticeable. For a Southerner, the people here almost seem rude - waitstaff doesn't stand around to chat, you're not often greeted when walking into a place - but I've come to realize that's just how it is here. Just like I won't find really spicy food (the chocolate chipotle gellato I had tonight is the one exception - my mouth was on fire) or sweet tea.

Anyway, my sister and I were having this discussion because my mom and I had made appointments to had our eyebrows and legs waxed, respectively. My sister wanted to have her eyebrows tweased because wax makes her break out (it's true, I've seen it). And the receptionist wasn't friendly enough in her opinion. (I thought she was fine, but I've been here 3 days longer.) Besides that I'd offered to twease her eyebrows myself.

Sister: "I'm sorry but I just don't trust you."

Me: "What?! I'm totally trustworthy."

Simultaneously two boys (young, 18, 20 tops) pass us in the street.

Me to the boys: "I look trust worthy, don't I?"

One of them: "No, but you're pretty."

Well, at least I've got that going for me.

Well, the Netherlands lost

And honestly, Spain played better. So it goes.

Nothing new to report. Still in Maine. It's foggy.

I'm (supposed to be) writing a paper about equity in education. I think my mom was surprised to find out I don't believe American education is equitable. I battle often with the feeling that I've sold out by teaching overseas. I know I am a much better teacher now than when I started. And it'd be nice to be applying these skills where I might make a difference. As it is, the students I teach now, they're most likely to succeed with or without me. The difference I offer, for the most part, is that I can help show the girls that it's ok to love and be good at math and to show all of them an alternative (generally more liberal) way of thinking about things. But in US public schools, well, for most of the students I also might not make a difference, but to those I did impact, the influence is likely to be far greater.

I'm a firm believer that the path to change is to create schools that are diverse socio-economically. However, I read a NYT article today about the attempt to do that in San Francisco and how it's almost impossible because all the middle/upper class students have been pulled out of public schools. Ack! What do we do then??

I'd often wondered if I'd be able to do it.

As an omnivore and one who enjoys eating meat, I'd often question if I'd actually be able to kill a living creature in order to eat it. While tonight, I discovered that yes, I can. But it wasn't pleasant. At least not until I was eating it.

I dropped 4 live lobsters into a steamer basket. This is almost worse than dropping them into boiling water I think because they aren't initially aware of how bad it is going to be. Then once I stuffed them in (and I had to, to get the lid on), I could hear them rattling against the lid for the first 7 or so minutes. I ignored their cries and kept reading (Pride and Prejudice - it's so good! who knew?!). And after 20 minutes, opened the lid to reveal 4 bright red lobsters which my family and I devoured.

Here I am kissing mine good-bye:


My sister, newly arrived to Maine ate hers almost instantly and declared "I eat 9 oz of protein a meal, you know! (Actually, no I didn't) I'll need two next time." Um, ok.


My dad had fun playing with his.


As did my mom:


This was my dad's 3rd lobster in 6 meals. Here he is at lunch with my mom looking on.


Not to worry, she also had lobster, but in the form of a club sandwich. Me, I had a salad. There's only so much of eating out that I can take (never thought you'd hear me say that, huh?).

Maine - first impressions

It's humid in Maine. Seriously, disgustingly (though I have a low tolerance for humidity) humid. However, the view from the back deck of our rental house (actually the view can be seen from every room in the place) is awesome. See:



Also we found a farmer's market today (you know I love those) and bought goat cheese, sweet corn, sugar snap peas, well you get the picture.

Now if only to avoid being driven crazy by the fact that there is no escape from the people I'm with (my parents). It's not them (for the most part), but more the fact that I ~need~ my alone time.

This post brought to you by the commission for parenthesis in every sentence (great for a mind that's often side tracked).

I'm calling it football

Living in Europe (Moscow is sort of European) for the start of the World Cup was pretty great. I was never that into soccer, but I do enjoy going to sports bars. So I started watching with Bree. And then I got into it. When I'm invested, I'm the person jumping up, almost knocking the table over, screaming.

And man, has there been a lot to cheer about these past two days. My future home, the Netherlands BEAT Brazil yesterday. Since NED was ranked high it's not ~that~ much of an upset, but to the world of football (and to the world, it is football, it's a game played mostly with your feet, it makes sense, America, get over it and start calling it football) fans, I'd say it came as a surprise. And me, I've never enjoyed watching Brazil - whiny, actors the lot of them. So I say "Suck It, Brazil! Enjoy the long flight home." Ha. GO NETHERLANDS!

Then Uruguay and Ghana going to shoot out! I was on the edge of my seat at the end of that match.

And today, what should have been a close game, but no, Germany slaughtered Argentina. Yet another surprise and again awesome because the Argentinian coach, Maradona is, in my opinion, a douche. I'll admit, I laughed at his tears. And we all know I have a thing for Germans.

The most hilarious part of this game was when the announcer used "tantalizing and scintillating" in the same sentence. Dude, I'm watching football (or soccer if you must), not porn.

But if it comes down to Netherlands vs. Germany, I'll be wearing orange.