i feel like those of you who read this blog for update-on-mikkele's-life-purposes are probably at the edge of your seats waiting to know what kind of crazy adventures i'm getting myself into. well, dear reader, your patience has paid off, because here it is:
very little has been happening.
what? i live in amsterdam, the most international city in the world, where marijuana and prostitution and gay marriage is legal and encouraged, where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal! and there are museums! so many museums.
the truth is, since i got here i've spent most of my time getting to know my housemates/coworkers and the area and figuring out my shifts and sleeping and being cold. i'm getting pretty comfortable in all of these things now (even the being cold part) and i'm realizing that i haven't really done a lot outside of biking between the house and the hostel most days.
speaking of the hostel, we've started working regular shifts again. here are the shifts that we have:
cook: cooks dinner for 20(ish) people (staff and cleaners)
morning/afternoon/evening cafe: works in the cafe cooking basic meals and getting people coffee
reception: checks people in and out, guards the door to make sure the crazies don't come in
sleeper: does some reception, cleaning, and sleeps at the hostel in case the nightman needs any assistance in the middle of the night
nightman: stays up all night to keep watch over the hostel
cleaning supervisor: we always have "cleaners" at the hostel, which are people that spend a few hours each day cleaning the hostel in exchange for room and board. the cleaners can stay up to a month. the cleaning supervisor tells the cleaners what needs to be done
i think those are all the shifts. so far i've only been trained on the various cafe shifts and cook, but starting this week i'm getting trained on reception, which should be fun because that's where most of the crazy happens. they only train people on reception that are planning on being here for 6 months or longer, so only a couple of the newer people are actually getting trained this week. i most likely won't be doing cleaning supervisor because they only have 3 at a time and all the spots are currently filled.
it's nice to feel more comfortable and confident being in and around the hostel, but we've hardly had any guests because of the renovations, so most of my shifts have been pretty slow. after doing the cleaning, i usually just sit around and read. i'm not used to having so much downtime, so sometimes i get a little stir crazy. however, it's a nice break from my previously insane schedule, so i'm not complaining. :)
slowly i've been getting the hang of the city. even though i don't necessarily know where everything is, i can at least orient myself pretty well and figure out which direction to go to get home or to the hostel. i've also got a pretty good handle on biking through the city now. i have gotten pretty quick-- winding around cars and pedestrians and ringing my bell at all of them. a few days ago i was biking straight at a car (who usually would move over on the road, but this guy didn't) and he got a little too close. i bailed and ran right into a parked car! it didn't really hurt, it was mostly just funny. also, yesterday i couldn't figure out why i was SO SLOW and working SO HARD when i checked my front tire and realized it was entirely flat. i left it at the hostel after my shift last night for the nightman to fix...so hopefully when i go downstairs it will be as good as new!
i went to the foam (fotographie amsterdam) museum last week and got myself a museum card that is good for most of the museums in amsterdam. i'm not a huge museum goer, but i figure i'm here, and the hostel reimbursed me for the card, so it would be silly not to go. besides, people eat that stuff up. "ohhh, did you see the anne frank house and the rilkes museum?" "oh yeah, i am an avid history and art lover and therefore will impress you with my new-found knowledge of both." foam was pretty cool-- they had an exhibit about urban space and the post-war european city, which you should know by now, is right up my alley. i also got some pretty sweet postcards that i keep forgetting to mail.
speaking of which, if you want me to send you a sweet postcard, please send me your mailing address here: mikkelesuzanne (at) gmail (dot) com
i've also started exploring the markets, which sell everything you could ever want. i got a cute little scarf yesterday, and plan on going back on monday to pick up a few other things that i really liked, but didn't have cash for at the time. i never know if i'm supposed to bargain with them or not, so sometimes i feel like i got ripped off.
this has been a long update. depending on your level of interest i could tell you a hundred more things about my life in this new city, but i'll spare you. also, i love getting emails and letters, so if you just want to mail me something pretty or send me your love or tell me about something funny that happened, please do. also, as always, you can check out pictures here, here, and here.
until next time.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
"zeeland" or "the time i traveled in a very tiny car with way too many people"
i've been told that shifts at the hostel are really irregular and people rarely have the same days off and everything, but my first couple of weeks here haven't been like that at all. because the hostel is closed for renovations, we all work the same schedule every day (8:30-4:30) and had saturday and sunday off. because this was an anomaly, we decided to go away together to a little town by the sea called Zeeland. Here it is on a map (Amsterdam=A, Zeeland=B):
View Larger Map
anyway, the whole weekend was a huge blessing. we took a train to Gouda (pronounced, how-dah, crazy dutchies) and then some of the staff members from Holland had friends and family pick us up at the train station and pack us into tiny Dutch cars and drive us out to this beach house in the middle of nowhere (aka Zeeland) right by the North Sea. the hostel gave us money to buy groceries and the house was free, so all we ended up having to pay for was the train ticket to and from Gouda. we spent the weekend watching movies, playing games, praying together, and visiting the water. it was FREEZING, however, so we didn't venture out much. Janna, one of my coworkers, has a brother who lives near Zeeland, so we visited his church and hung out at his house with his family for soup and sandwiches.
the whole trip was a really good time to get to know everyone, and I feel more ready than ever to start my real shifts when the hostel opens again this weekend. here are some pictures:
quicksand warning
walking to the water
you can see more pictures from this trip and more pictures from around the city by clicking here! also, you can check out random other pictures from around town.
View Larger Map
anyway, the whole weekend was a huge blessing. we took a train to Gouda (pronounced, how-dah, crazy dutchies) and then some of the staff members from Holland had friends and family pick us up at the train station and pack us into tiny Dutch cars and drive us out to this beach house in the middle of nowhere (aka Zeeland) right by the North Sea. the hostel gave us money to buy groceries and the house was free, so all we ended up having to pay for was the train ticket to and from Gouda. we spent the weekend watching movies, playing games, praying together, and visiting the water. it was FREEZING, however, so we didn't venture out much. Janna, one of my coworkers, has a brother who lives near Zeeland, so we visited his church and hung out at his house with his family for soup and sandwiches.
the whole trip was a really good time to get to know everyone, and I feel more ready than ever to start my real shifts when the hostel opens again this weekend. here are some pictures:
quicksand warning
walking to the water
you can see more pictures from this trip and more pictures from around the city by clicking here! also, you can check out random other pictures from around town.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
"new year's in amsterdam" or "the time i thought i was going to die by firecracker"
new year's eve has never really been a big deal to me-- get together with a random group of people, yell at midnight, and go home. new year's eve in Amsterdam, however, was quite the opposite. people from literally everywhere in the world come here to celebrate.
the night began at the City where we all sat around and played some dutch game...kow something? where you auctioned off animals and traded and stuff. it was so strange. kind of like the american game, pit, i think? anyway, it took like 2 hours and was so weird. then we sat around and talked about 2009 and the major news events, then we headed out to Museumplein to watch the fireworks. and what we saw was insane.
hundreds of thousands of people in the streets doing every drug you can think of, walking around drinking bottles of whiskey and wine and THROWING FIREWORKS! i have never in my life seen so many fireworks. it started SNOWING ASH! the entire city smelled like pot and it was so crowded people were walking their bikes. we were walking down the street and someone in front of me stopped abruptly. i was kind of annoyed and started to push around them when i heard an explosion and realized that someone had thrown a firecracker right in front of us. i had my hip pouch underneath my giant coat and fortunately so, because all night i felt hands going in and out of my pockets. this also stopped me from taking a lot of pictures because i feared my camera would get swiped, not to mention my hands were freezing.
when the clock struck midnight (9 hours ahead of all you california suckers!) i had oliver, a drunk german guy who is the craziest person i've ever met (he's been staying at the hostel) give me a hug. next was kim, the korean norwegian who has never been to korea and is in a perpetual state of "high" (also staying at the hostel) come on over. everyone was yelling "gelukkig nieuwjaar" and dancing in the streets.
the politie were standing around everywhere, not really doing a lot. i guess there wasn't a lot they could do, seeing as how everything that was happening was legal. on our way back to the City we saw a few guys light a 20 foot string of firecrackers. no joke. it took several minutes to get through the whole thing. they stopped traffic with it. within several feet, tourists were letting off m-80's and the sparks were uncomfortably close to me and this large inebriated group of people. also on the way back to the City, we saw a bonfire in the middle of the street. bikes were riding around it, cars were avoiding it, and people were standing around warming up by it with their beers. what the what?!
it took us over an hour to get back to the City, partially because of the amount of people, and partially because we kept stopping to watch the random acts of insanity. i woke up the next morning at 7 and there were still fireworks going off.
the crowd:
the aftermath:
the bonfire:
more of the aftermath. the red stuff is firecracker wrappers. all of it. i am so entirely serious:
don't worry everyone, i'm staying safe! :)
the night began at the City where we all sat around and played some dutch game...kow something? where you auctioned off animals and traded and stuff. it was so strange. kind of like the american game, pit, i think? anyway, it took like 2 hours and was so weird. then we sat around and talked about 2009 and the major news events, then we headed out to Museumplein to watch the fireworks. and what we saw was insane.
hundreds of thousands of people in the streets doing every drug you can think of, walking around drinking bottles of whiskey and wine and THROWING FIREWORKS! i have never in my life seen so many fireworks. it started SNOWING ASH! the entire city smelled like pot and it was so crowded people were walking their bikes. we were walking down the street and someone in front of me stopped abruptly. i was kind of annoyed and started to push around them when i heard an explosion and realized that someone had thrown a firecracker right in front of us. i had my hip pouch underneath my giant coat and fortunately so, because all night i felt hands going in and out of my pockets. this also stopped me from taking a lot of pictures because i feared my camera would get swiped, not to mention my hands were freezing.
when the clock struck midnight (9 hours ahead of all you california suckers!) i had oliver, a drunk german guy who is the craziest person i've ever met (he's been staying at the hostel) give me a hug. next was kim, the korean norwegian who has never been to korea and is in a perpetual state of "high" (also staying at the hostel) come on over. everyone was yelling "gelukkig nieuwjaar" and dancing in the streets.
the politie were standing around everywhere, not really doing a lot. i guess there wasn't a lot they could do, seeing as how everything that was happening was legal. on our way back to the City we saw a few guys light a 20 foot string of firecrackers. no joke. it took several minutes to get through the whole thing. they stopped traffic with it. within several feet, tourists were letting off m-80's and the sparks were uncomfortably close to me and this large inebriated group of people. also on the way back to the City, we saw a bonfire in the middle of the street. bikes were riding around it, cars were avoiding it, and people were standing around warming up by it with their beers. what the what?!
it took us over an hour to get back to the City, partially because of the amount of people, and partially because we kept stopping to watch the random acts of insanity. i woke up the next morning at 7 and there were still fireworks going off.
the crowd:
the aftermath:
the bonfire:
more of the aftermath. the red stuff is firecracker wrappers. all of it. i am so entirely serious:
don't worry everyone, i'm staying safe! :)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2009 in review. more for me than for you.
two years ago i did a "year in review" post with pictures and everything. i don't plan on doing that as extensively this year, but 2009 was a fun year for me, albeit a bit rough. i set some goals and started making things happen.
january:
-participating in improv everywhere's 2009 "no pants on the subway" ride
-visiting my friend David in San Francisco for MLK weekend!
-started teaching cooking classes at Express Yourself
february:
-my birthday!
-my first toms sample sale
-tiff's bachelorette weekend in palm desert
-big bear for kevin/rechelle's birthdays
march:
-supervising at st. andrew's serve day
-got pulled over while driving for the first time in my life, but the cop totally loved me and didn't give me a ticket
-started the revolution that is "i want to date mikkele suzanne"
-tiff's wedding
april:
-visited chicago for americorps training
-met the mak's baby, nora
-i don't remember what else happened in april.
may:
-ate a grasshopper
-the most hilarious highschool sketchy party/warehouse show ever
june:
-finished up americorps
-went for my first (& second) helicopter ride
-started having a life again after working 60-70 hour weeks between mindfireinc and americorps
-gave blood for the first (& last, let's be honest) time ever
july:
-watched nick and keri get married
-3 weddings in one week (matt in SD, ashley and rodney in huntington, and dan and whit in seattle)
-death cab at the hollywood bowl!!
-weekend in santa barbara with emily
-went to the fair
-taught a photo class for express yourself kids
-watched claire walk for the first time
-flew to portland and drove up to seattle with laura!
-got my iPhone (totally noteworthy!)
-started studying for the GRE
-having to go in for jury duty for the first time ever, but i didn't get picked
august:
-dan and whit's wedding in seattle (same as above, which apparently happened right at the end of the month/beginning of the month)
-went to a taping of conan o'brien
-said goodbye to jeff and emily (boooo)
-claire's 1st birthday
-halecrest chili cookoff and almost destroying the bounce house
-my first angel's game
-saw ian and jake in venice beach!
september:
-phil wickham VIP conversant life show
-print 09 in chicago
-second angel's game
october:
-big bear life group trip
-C3 basketball tournament
-took the GRE
-got the clock back to jeff and emily in the best way possible
-visited jeff and emily in virginia beach
-reverse trick or treating
november:
-visited ben in boston and joel in new hampshire (and for a moment in the same city)
-ate an oyster for the first time
-moved in with my brother and sister-in-law
december:
-flew a plane/went acrobatic flying
-attended dozens of holiday/going away parties
-quit my job
-moved to amsterdam!
i'm sure i forgot some major things, but i'm done with this now. also, make sure you save the date!
january:
-participating in improv everywhere's 2009 "no pants on the subway" ride
-visiting my friend David in San Francisco for MLK weekend!
-started teaching cooking classes at Express Yourself
february:
-my birthday!
-my first toms sample sale
-tiff's bachelorette weekend in palm desert
-big bear for kevin/rechelle's birthdays
march:
-supervising at st. andrew's serve day
-got pulled over while driving for the first time in my life, but the cop totally loved me and didn't give me a ticket
-started the revolution that is "i want to date mikkele suzanne"
-tiff's wedding
april:
-visited chicago for americorps training
-met the mak's baby, nora
-i don't remember what else happened in april.
may:
-ate a grasshopper
-the most hilarious highschool sketchy party/warehouse show ever
june:
-finished up americorps
-went for my first (& second) helicopter ride
-started having a life again after working 60-70 hour weeks between mindfireinc and americorps
-gave blood for the first (& last, let's be honest) time ever
july:
-watched nick and keri get married
-3 weddings in one week (matt in SD, ashley and rodney in huntington, and dan and whit in seattle)
-death cab at the hollywood bowl!!
-weekend in santa barbara with emily
-went to the fair
-taught a photo class for express yourself kids
-watched claire walk for the first time
-flew to portland and drove up to seattle with laura!
-got my iPhone (totally noteworthy!)
-started studying for the GRE
-having to go in for jury duty for the first time ever, but i didn't get picked
august:
-dan and whit's wedding in seattle (same as above, which apparently happened right at the end of the month/beginning of the month)
-went to a taping of conan o'brien
-said goodbye to jeff and emily (boooo)
-claire's 1st birthday
-halecrest chili cookoff and almost destroying the bounce house
-my first angel's game
-saw ian and jake in venice beach!
september:
-phil wickham VIP conversant life show
-print 09 in chicago
-second angel's game
october:
-big bear life group trip
-C3 basketball tournament
-took the GRE
-got the clock back to jeff and emily in the best way possible
-visited jeff and emily in virginia beach
-reverse trick or treating
november:
-visited ben in boston and joel in new hampshire (and for a moment in the same city)
-ate an oyster for the first time
-moved in with my brother and sister-in-law
december:
-flew a plane/went acrobatic flying
-attended dozens of holiday/going away parties
-quit my job
-moved to amsterdam!
i'm sure i forgot some major things, but i'm done with this now. also, make sure you save the date!
on getting lost.
the other day i left my bike at the hostel, and from various events of the night/day i was back at the staff house (henceforth known as the willemsstraat) without it. i've been in this city for about 3 full days now and gone back and forth between the hostel and the willemsstraat a handful of times (about a 10 minute bike ride or a 20-25 minute walk?) so you'd think i would know this route well enough.
i decided to go get the bike by myself; my first venture out into the city alone since i got here. it's dark outside, but i'm going over directions in my head-- walk out the door, go straight, turn right, turn left, follow the canal, etc. i can do this! and i did do it. i made it to the hostel (henceforth referred to as the City aka Shelter City. confusing, i know, but it will always be capitalized) without any issues.
so, i'm riding my bike back, which is a little terrifying (more on that later) and i make it about halfway before it occurs to me that i know how to get to the City, but i don't know how to get home. i made about 6 wrong turns and U turns and rode around for a good 15 minutes before i finally gave up and asked someone on the street for help. thankfully i was carrying the address of the willemsstraat because when i tried to pronounce the name of the street it was on, they had no idea what i was saying. a nice lady and her boyfriend pointed me in the right direction, so i jumped back on my bike and made it about 10 feet before i heard a huge snap and the pedals stopped working. i jumped off the bike and saw the chain on the ground a few feet back. this poor couple is standing there staring at me, this obviously foreign person who is lost and has a now-broken bike that isn't even up to regulation at the moment (no working lights! a 70 euro fine) and it's (literally) freezing outside.
i thanked them for the directions and waved them on, thinking about what to do. i started walking the bike, and quickly realized this couple is walking the same direction as me. i began making conversation, but they didn't really want to talk to me. so i thanked them again and walked much more quickly ahead. i made it a pretty good distance and then i stopped to ask another man for directions but then they walked by, and we did the most awkward yo-yo for a few more streets before i finally made a turn and stopped seeing them. thankfully, after 2 or 3 more people giving directions, i saw the willemsstraat and almost cried tears of joy as my fingers lacked almost all feeling at this point. all in all i think it took me an hour of biking/walking/looking lost to make it there.
it's so confusing because in the area of town that we live in, there are very few landmarks and all of the streets look the same. the city is built on a circle, however, so you can't just count blocks until you make it to your street. also, all of the straats (streets!) are in dutch so they are incredibly difficult to recognize and/or remember. it's so frustrating wanting to be independent but feeling like i can't leave if i don't have someone to walk with me and bring me home safely. i keep forgetting to pick up a map at the hostel, so once i do that and draw the route on the map i think i will be able to remember it more easily. sigh.
i decided to go get the bike by myself; my first venture out into the city alone since i got here. it's dark outside, but i'm going over directions in my head-- walk out the door, go straight, turn right, turn left, follow the canal, etc. i can do this! and i did do it. i made it to the hostel (henceforth referred to as the City aka Shelter City. confusing, i know, but it will always be capitalized) without any issues.
so, i'm riding my bike back, which is a little terrifying (more on that later) and i make it about halfway before it occurs to me that i know how to get to the City, but i don't know how to get home. i made about 6 wrong turns and U turns and rode around for a good 15 minutes before i finally gave up and asked someone on the street for help. thankfully i was carrying the address of the willemsstraat because when i tried to pronounce the name of the street it was on, they had no idea what i was saying. a nice lady and her boyfriend pointed me in the right direction, so i jumped back on my bike and made it about 10 feet before i heard a huge snap and the pedals stopped working. i jumped off the bike and saw the chain on the ground a few feet back. this poor couple is standing there staring at me, this obviously foreign person who is lost and has a now-broken bike that isn't even up to regulation at the moment (no working lights! a 70 euro fine) and it's (literally) freezing outside.
i thanked them for the directions and waved them on, thinking about what to do. i started walking the bike, and quickly realized this couple is walking the same direction as me. i began making conversation, but they didn't really want to talk to me. so i thanked them again and walked much more quickly ahead. i made it a pretty good distance and then i stopped to ask another man for directions but then they walked by, and we did the most awkward yo-yo for a few more streets before i finally made a turn and stopped seeing them. thankfully, after 2 or 3 more people giving directions, i saw the willemsstraat and almost cried tears of joy as my fingers lacked almost all feeling at this point. all in all i think it took me an hour of biking/walking/looking lost to make it there.
it's so confusing because in the area of town that we live in, there are very few landmarks and all of the streets look the same. the city is built on a circle, however, so you can't just count blocks until you make it to your street. also, all of the straats (streets!) are in dutch so they are incredibly difficult to recognize and/or remember. it's so frustrating wanting to be independent but feeling like i can't leave if i don't have someone to walk with me and bring me home safely. i keep forgetting to pick up a map at the hostel, so once i do that and draw the route on the map i think i will be able to remember it more easily. sigh.
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