Dagmaraka goes Dutch

Thanks for those photos - and it looks like a nice surrounding to work in!


Just a small addenda: De Bijenkorf building in Den Haag is Amsterdam School (Dutch: Amsterdamse School).

Do you have a cow-milking roster, dag?

Wow. All very impressive!

well, this one is a school of fashion at most: http://www.bijenkorf.nl/BijWeb/

2nd day at work...going to see the Slovak ambassador to the Netherlands. Can't find much ab0ut the lady, but she studied international relations in Soviet Russia, in Moscow. I will have to suppress my aversion somehow. The fact that she was sent here by the current government (bunch of nationalists and populists) does not help. Perhaps she'll be perfectly nice.

She's the "Permanent Representative of the Slovak Republic to the OPCW" as well.

So, Der Dag lands on her feet and comes up smelling of roses.

I miss:

1) loud people: that's right, loud people. I never thought I would say this, but people here are so....there's much less of them somehow. Not in quantity or in physique, but in their countenance. They are quieter and even move less somehow. Gesticulate less, don't flail arms about, toss hair and such. Even teenagers are quieter. I almost (almost!) miss a rowdy American youth that talks at 90 decibels 3 tones higher than normal voice range, hearing an occasional "get out of heeeere!" shriek or the frequent "you knooooow" and "like". This, too, shall pass.
2) I miss mountains and forests. The luscious green of the New England that has grown to be a part of me.
3) Food that I know. I don't know where to have dinner here. Don't feel like sitting down alone at a restaurant (and paying 30 or more euro). The only other option seems to be pub food.... not healthy or good. I've seen some indonesian or thai food stores, usually glaringly empty...didn't feel like sitting there either. Never in my life was I happier to see McDonalds than yesterday. (Not true, I was happier to see it in Rabat, Morocco, when we went there with my sister to treat ourselves to a feast after a month of living on sardines and baguettes, since we ran out of money during our travels. That was the best meal of my life).
4.) Friends. I knew I would, but man, it's so lonely here. At least I share an office with 3 other young people.

As a country, which is in many parts below sea level, the Netherlands are FLAT. And unfortunately, they aren't known for their forests (at least not at the seaside part).

But I'm sure, you'll make friends soon - and get to like the "calmer atmosphere" (I usually find the tinkling of the 'fietsers' there disturbing ).

And I'm sure, you'll find some nice food places, too. (Remember: it's always the complete price = tax & service is included!)

Any thoughts on how much fun the three are gonna be? How much of a base they, and your housemates, may be for you?

ooh, i wanna go there... i despise loud people...

Day 2:
I arrived at work at 7:30am. That's right, me, at 7:30am (well, that is 1:30am New England time, so I am perfectly fine at that hour... I get dead tired at about 2pm Dutch time, which is 8am New England time). Work starts at 9am, but I was expecting my bike to arrive, which the Aer Lingus conveniently misplaced on the way (sooo glad I didn't have to haul it on my shoulder along with the suitcase).
I did some research on Slovak history teachers association, only to find nothing. There are textbook wars with Hungary, and our governments are barely on speaking terms. My job, among other things, is to launch a Slovak-Hungarian project.
At 11am, the Executive Director and I went to see the Slovak Ambassador. We have a gorgeous Embassy, yes we do. She turned out to be rather nice. She's a career diplomat, not originating from any particular party. That's good. Also was rather sympathetic and proposed to organize a roundtable on history education and the Roma... so I have a project already. She will invite me to any and all events at the embassy, which means I'll have a homebase of some sort. She also knows my father, which was a surprise to my Executive Director, but oh well. Now she knows.
It's great to have a project to work on, goal in sight, peppered with schmoozing opportunities. THat is somewhat exciting for sure.
I am getting along with my colleagues rather famously, one of them is very funny, which I highly appreciate.
OK, must write to parents or my mother will swoop in here and personally whoop my ass.

Ah, good stuff.

I've a lot of sympathy re the transition and the new shape of the land - there's no ocean here in NM. Yes, I knew that coming in, but... I still miss the hell out of it.
There's an ocean of light though.
Both oceans now part of my space, one just further from daily reach.

I think sozobe gave a link to Matt Gross' visit to Amsterdam in the Frugal Traveler NYT series recently. I think I remember some of the commenters to the article suggested some ethnic restaurants.. I'll try to find those comments and bring up the link again.

Well, although it's only a 40 - 50 minutes ride by train to Amsterdam - I'm sure, you'll find some good restaurants in Den Haag ('The Hague') as well.

Like for instance this one (I've not been there since I usually "eat Dutch" when I'm there)

Sorry, I got confused (imagine that!). I usually remember den Haag is not in Amsterdam, but hadn't had my coffee yet (excuses, excuses).

Noooo, but there's lots of beaches.

Including my yard...

Your yard comes complete with ocean, at least the first time I saw it.

oops, fire alarm going off at the hotel. should i go out? not without my computer!

Yes, and take computer.

However, that happened to me in New York, and it turned out to be the smoke alarm that was part of the light fixture...

I consider that more of a lake.

(For those who wonder what I'm talking about, people don't seem to have a clue about grading and drainage here in sandcity.)