Well, I’ve officially arrived to The Netherlands. I flew out on Monday, March 24th, the day after Easter.
The week before I left, there were a lot of teary goodbyes... on Thursday night, I went to Piazza Italia with Amy, Michelle, and Amber. We had such a nice time and we all enjoyed our food (can't go wrong with Gino's favorite!). Michelle and I got to dance with the owner (so cute!), and, as we were leaving, GREG ODEN walked in in an Ohio State hat!! I was too shy to say anything, but I was amazed by his height!!
The girls and I at dinner
Friday was my last day at work. Our category footwear lead scheduled a meeting with me to discuss our Goretex shoes, which I thought was a bit odd, but I accepted anyways. Turned out that it was a surprise going away party! They got me! :) It was fun to see eveyone one last time, and I was showered with gifts that had an Amsterdam theme - orange clothing, bike bells, and, of course, plenty of pot-related items. My favorite was the pot doo rag... priceless!
Sean surprised me that night with some beautiful tulips in celebration of the national flower of Holland... wish I could have been there to see them bloom for longer!
Saturday, I had my last run with my running group, and, that evening, Raelee and Andy had a few of us over for fondue. It was so hard to say goodbye to the ladies I've spent the past 4 plus years running with!!
Sean and I spent Easter with his family, and then we left to visit Rebecca, Corey, and new addition Olivia Wright.
Corey, Rebecca, and Olivia WrightWe spent the evening at Andina, which is where we had our 2nd date (which was the one when I decided that I could kinda like this guy… not the case after our 1st date – which he won’t let me live down!). J It was a hard night – we both had moments of tears as the realization that I was really leaving hit us both. Of course we had had three weeks to prepare, but it didn’t really feel like anything was changing until it was time for the rubber to hit the road. To make things harder, I had been staying with Sean for the three weeks before I left, since my house had already been packed up and shipped on a boat. It was a pretty sleepless night – on top of all of the thoughts running through my mind, I had the worst cold I’ve ever had, and I kept waking up to sneeze, blow my nose, or relieve the horrible pressure in my ears. Not a fun night.
So, Monday came, and it was time to pack up the life Sean and I had been living for the three weeks prior. I had been shopping… A LOT… and everything no longer fit into the two suitcases that I had brought, so I ended up having to carry on my gym bag. Anyways, it all fit – eventually! We got to the airport, got me all checked in (my bags were ALL overweight… but I didn’t have to pay. Sean absolutely hates that all I have to do is smile and be friendly and my overweight bags ALWAYS make it on the flight for free. All I gotta say is… sometimes a smile goes a long way!). We had lunch at Stanford’s, and then reality REALLY began to set in. We’re both sitting there crying in the restaurant… ugh, it was terrible. After a slight debacle with my missing cell phone (had to run all the way out to the car to get it so I could call my parents one last time before boarding), Sean took me to security. Many hugs, kisses, and tears later, I entered the gate, and Sean walked away. I fought to hold it all together as I watched him walk away.
The flight to Amsterdam was fairly uneventful. I sat next to a rather nice, chatty gentleman, who had travelled quite a bit in Europe, so we traded travel stories for a while, then settled in. I watched Atonement, which I had been wanting to see – I really liked it. I also saw Enchanted – definitely best when brain power is running low. ;) I tried to sleep, but, honestly, was kind of excited/sad/emotional-in-general, so I had a hard time letting myself sleep. I saw my co-worker Jamie Gregg on the flight – turns out she was staying in Amsterdam for the week – can you imagine how relieved I was so see a familiar face? We waited out the three hour layover in Frankfurt together, and then both passed out on the way to Amsterdam… seriously, as in, woke up with drool all the way down my jacket passed out… how embarrassing!
My relocation agent picked me up at the airport, and we immediately went to a photo shop to get some passport photos taken… I’m already looking fantastic from 14 hours of travel plus my red nose from the cold. To make matters worse, in Europe, there is absolutely no smiling allowed for passport photos. So, I basically look like a sad little coke addict/prisoner for my photo that will go on my Dutch Resident card. Fabulous! When we got out of the airport, I was surprised to find that it was snowing. A LOT!!! Luckily, it wasn’t sticking, so it wasn’t too bad outside.
After that, we went to my apartment, where FOUR more people joined us to check me in – two from the Dutch Housing Authority, a maintenance man from Nike, and the condo owner. It was absolute chaos! Finally, they all left, and it was just me. Alone. And guess what? I was just fine!! I went to the grocery store to have my first Dutch shopping experience. Okay, so a few learnings (already). 1. To get a cart out (they are chained to the wall), one must first insert a coin, which then releases the cart, and can be retrieved upon returning the cart (learned this after a near meltdown… I sucked up my pride and asked a nice older gentleman for some help) 2. There are quite a few different kinds of milk. I couldn’t figure out what was what, so I picked the one with the least fat, thinking that it might be skim milk… well, put some of it in my coffee the next morning, and about had to spit the coffee out – it was TERRIBLE! I looked up the name from the carton in my Dutch phrase book, and it turns out that KarneMelk is BUTTERMILK! Oh boy! So, I promptly dumped this out and purchased some new milk later that day.
So, after the shopping experience, I met up with Jamie at her hotel. She wasn’t quite ready, which was totally fine, because there was a pay phone there, and I was able to get a hold of my father, who was definitely glad to hear his little girl’s voice. Jamie and I went to a cute little restaurant called “Het MelkMeisje” (The Milk Maid”), and both enjoyed our dinners and a glass of wine. We both, however, were dealing with jet lag, and so decided at 8:30 that we had done enough for the day. I was so grateful to have her there for my first night… it was nice to not have to be totally alone.
I took the tram back home, and was so relieved to have made it through the first day. Got to my apartment, put the key in, turned it, and… NOTHING!!! I was totally panicking in my mind, not quite sure what to do – the lock was STUCK!!! I tried and tried, and couldn’t get the door to budge. I was on the verge of tears – I had no cell phone, and certainly no friends, and began to think I might be spending the night at a hotel somewhere! I’m not a religious person, but I said a prayer right there… “oh please, oh please, let someone help me”. Okay, this is weird, but a man that lives in my building seriously showed up within about a minute of me saying this. I couldn’t believe it. Trying to hold back tears, I explained what was going on. The gentleman struggled a little bit, but eventually got the special lock open and advised me not to lock that one moving forward – there are a few other locks anyways!! So, that is my miracle story, and also how I met my first neighbor.
Wednesday was a huge day. I actually was able to sleep until 7 – it’s amazing, because usually I wake up at 3 when I come to Europe. The relocation agent picked me up, and we drove directly to the Hague to get all my government registration set up. I got my SoFi number, which is basically the social security number for the Netherlands. We also got my bank set up and registered with the town hall. All of these things seemed to take FOREVER! I think I’m going to have to learn to have more patience. J After all of this, we went to the phone/internet/cable store, and picked up all of my equipment to get all of this set up at home. Unfortunately, all of the instructions are in Dutch, and my apartment seems to have the former cable system jerry-rigged to make it work, so, long story short, a cable guy came over today (Friday) to help me get all of this set up.
Thursday was my first day with nothing officially scheduled. I woke up at 9 – unbelievable! I went for a nice hour long run – my destination was Vondelpark, and I made it without getting lost. When I returned, I showered and then attempted to do my first load of laundry – oh boy! All the settings are in Dutch, so it was kind of a daunting task… what would you think if this is what you saw when you looked at your washing machine?
Anyways, I think I got it figured out – nothing seems to be ruined!
I spent the rest of the day picking up things that I’ve noticed my apartment is missing, and then I made a nice dinner for myself. I’m surprised – I’m really doing just fine. Of course, I miss my family and my friends, but, I’m living in Europe – this is awesome!
I’m looking forward to the weekend – I actually have some plans with friends-of-friends and acquaintances I have in Amsterdam from over the years, so it should be good.
Thanks to all for all the love and support over the past few weeks. This has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but I think that in the end, it will be one of the most rewarding. Thanks for reading this if you made it all the way through – I’ll try to keep more on top of this now that I have my internet working! :)
