As promised... photos from Dam to Dam

Douffy and I pre-race


My friend from work, Simone, and I after the race


Douffy and I with yet another co-worker, Dao


Douffy really loved the outdoor urinals...

All in all, a beautiful day, a great race, and a time spent with friends - what more can a girl ask for? :)

Normal Things

You know, not every week can be a new adventure... it's been great seeing all of these amazing cities, but I'm exhausted! :) This weekend, I decided that what would be the MOST fun would be staying in town and having a "normal" weekend. Friday, I worked from home. It was an absolutely beautiful day, and I went for a great 6 mile run at lunchtime (well, it was kind of 6+ because I got lost). That evening, I met some girlfriends from work for an amazing Italian dinner, and just enjoyed "time with the girls" much like I used to do back at home... except one had a British accent and the other a Dutch one. :)

Saturday, I got up on the early side and went to play 9 holes of golf with my co-worker Richard. He's a really talented golfer (2 handicap), and always has a tip or two that really helps me out. I think I played all of my shots, and I even hit a ball out of the sand. I'm really improving, which makes me happy, because it's been a long time in the making! :) I'm to the point where I actually ENJOY golf, which is a long way from where I have been. I don't count how many holes I have left anymore - in fact, I was shocked when we got to our 9th hole that we were already done. :)

When we got back to Amsterdam, it was still gorgeous, so I went for another run. I started feeling pretty sick about halfway through my run, so I was glad to be pretty close to home. I had some plans with co-workers for that evening, which I ended up cancelling because I progressively got sicker and sicker as the day went on. I'm pretty sure it was the flu, although I never actually got sick. Still, a pretty sucky way to spend a Saturday night. I did, however, get my DVD player unlocked to be able to play US DVD's, so I spent the night with my favorite 4 women - the characters of Sex and the City. I absolutely love that show, and seriously think that I could have contributed to the scripts with some of my own stories! :) I've also been working on my album for my adventure here - I have been scrapbooking for over 10 years, and this album has been my favorite to work on so far.

After a somewhat restless night (my neighbors were having a party, which proceeded to wake me up at midnight, 1:00am, and 3:00am), I got up early to start my journey to Rotterdam, which is another pretty big city in the Netherlands, and the country's largest port. One of my co-workers, Gulsun, lives there with her husband, and they are restoring a house that was built in 1895. I had volunteered to help them, and so this weekend, I drove down for a day of painting. I had a fun time with them, and got to meet some of their nice friends. The house is going to be absolutely beautiful when it's finished! :)


Hard core painting chicks!


Way cuter picture!!


Gulsun's husband, Olov (l), and friend Irae


Olov took me back to my car riding Dutch-style! I almost peed my pants I was so scared riding on the back of his bike! :) But now I'm a pro!

Moment of Truth

So... I'm sitting at my desk at work, when the phone rings. The following is the conversation that followed:



KP: This is Kristen

Guy on Phone (G): This is so-and-so calling about your Moment of Truth

KP: My what???

G: Your Moment of Truth, you know, your M.O.T.

KP: Huh?

G: We need to schedule your appointment

KP: I think you have the wrong number

G: No, this is Kristen, right?

KP: Well, yes, but I have NO idea what you are talking about

G: The Moment of Truth, you know, your annual car check-up

KP: OH! I got a letter about that (in Dutch!)



And the conversation progressed... basically, it's just annual emissions testing for your car, just like we had back at home... however, I'm thinking "What the hell is this guy talking about?". Long story short, appointment is scheduled for a few weeks from now. I will never forget this Moment of Truth. :)



Just a fun little vignette into life abroad... :)

A Week of Firsts

This week has been one of the best since I've moved here... and a week of many firsts for me. So, here they are:

* My first cooking lesson with Fabio, my Italian co-worker. Fabio is an amazing cook, and he offered to have me over for cooking lessons every Wednesday. Since my schedule is somewhat flexible these days, I would have been a fool not to take him up on this!! :) He told me that we'd be having "fish". What he didn't tell me is that they would still have eyeballs. Check this out:


Fabio went to the local fish market and bought THE LARGEST shrimp I have ever seen in my entire life! Because I'm the apprentice, I was responsible for cleaning these bad boys. Let me tell you - my hands smelled like shrimp until Friday, and my fingers were sore from ripping off the shells! I'm a cooking wimp!


How often do you have to look your dinner in the eye before eating it???


Almost done... this dish was absolutely amazing!! It was so nice to spend the evening with a good friend and good food. :)

My co-workers are amazing... the next night was my first dinner with my friend and co-worker Erwin and his girlfriend, Marjolein. They introduced me to my new favorite Dutch dessert, which is called Vla... it's kind of like pudding, but thicker. I immediately went to the grocery store and got some to keep at home... this could be my new alternative to peanut butter... uh-oh!! :)

My next first:

*My first pair of skinny jeans. As Shakira puts it, "My Hips Don't Lie", which makes it rather challenging to fit into jeans made to fit on a body shaped like a toothpick. Upon shopping on Saturday, however, I ventured into this shop that sells jeans made by a Danish designer. Evidently the women there are a little more shapely, and the jeans fit me perfectly. Which was great, because of my next first:

*My first party on the Nike houseboat. One of our Dutch employees is currently an ex pat living in Thailand. He and his wife own a houseboat on one of the canals in Amsterdam, and Nike rents it out from them. We have guests stay there, and also use it for parties and things of that nature. Our design director, who is an American, is finishing his assignment here, and so his going away party was Saturday on the houseboat. A good time was had by all, especially me in my new skinny jeans. :)


KP and Alex - trying to get used to the rocking of the boat - or did we just feel like it was moving after the wine?!? :)


Andre receiving his gift from Graham


Trouble!! The girls all upstairs laughing it up... Culture differences, what culture differences? I sat up here in the living room, with Ditte (Dutch) to my right, and George and Rachel (British) to my left. The Italians were all standing across from us. Despite being from completely different places, laughter translates to all cultures, and I haven't laughed this hard since moving to Amsterdam. I wish the night didn't have to end!


Alex with Rachel

We all had SUCH a fun time on the boat that we didn't want to leave... and we really could have stayed out all night - the bars don't close until 6 here. But, unfortunately, I had another first on Sunday morning:

*My first Dam to Dam Loop. This is a 10-mile race that goes from Amsterdam to Zaandam. I had heard that it was a lot of fun, so I signed up right when I moved here. My friend from Beaverton, Douffy, was in town for work, and so he ran the race too. Being from Africa, he had a bit of an advantage on me and we only stayed together for the first 4 miles. I still ran really strong, and finished in 1 hour, 25 minutes. Having not run 10 miles pretty much since I moved here, I was pretty proud to run such a good time. :) Douffy took pictures, which I will post as soon as he sends them to me. One is particularly funny, and I'll describe it here as my last first of the week:

*My first experience with behavior at races in Holland. So, in Amsterdam, we have these outdoor urinal things. Basically, it's 4 urinals that are all arranged in a cross formation. Men simply walk up to them, whip out their goods, and take a whizz right there in the open. I always turn away embarrassed, but I'm sure if you really looked, you could probably see a little something-something. Well, at races, the men all wear these tight spandex shorts, and, so, rather than whipping out their goods, they hike up one leg of their shorts and pull their goods out of the bottom. No joke. I was dying in laughter. hehe - I couldn't convince Douffy that this was a good idea, but I did get a picture of him faking it. :) Another strange race item: at the end of the race, people were just changing into dry clothes out in the open. Meaning - I saw a lot of old dudes in their underwear. I'm still just not used to this comfort with nudity here... guess I'm still not an Ameripean. :)

Stunning Stockholm!

A few months ago, I was getting antsy - I didn't have any trips past August on my calendar. I get a little stir crazy when I don't have anything planned, so I started checking out flights. There are some great low-cost air carriers here in Europe, and I found (what I thought was) a great deal - 90 euros round trip to Stockholm! I booked it immediately, and then made the rest of my arrangements. A lesson that I need to learn - if something seems to good to be true, well, most likely it probably is!! :) The way these low cost carriers work is that they often fly into kind of distant aiports - in this case, the flight went into Skavsta, which is about an hour and 30 minutes away from the actual city. Oh well, live and learn. :) I still got there, and it was still amazing!

So... I didn't know much about Stockholm before planning this trip. It's kind of a hidden jewel of Europe. But, I think it's made its way into my top 3 cities in Europe so far. Here are a few things that I like about Stockholm:

* Most of Europe is beautiful because of its architecture, not necessarily the natural beauty of the area - Stockholm has both - beautiful buildings and amazing nature. The city is actually made up of 14 islands, so there is water everywhere.
* Stockholm is a real running city. There are footpaths everywhere! It's possible to run for miles and miles and still see something interesting constantly! And, people wear REAL running shoes. I have to admit, I'm a bit of a running footwear snob after working for Nike Running for 2 1/2 years. You should see what people wear here!
* The people are SO friendly! And they are genuinely pretty happy. I have never heard so much spontaneous singing in my life! People just walk around happy - it's really uplifting!
* The Smorgasbord is a Swedish thing - and I love to eat. What a treat!

Those are just a few things. The only bummer of the trip is that I went by myself. I think that half the fun of travelling is sharing new experiences with someone else. This is probably going to be the last trip I take by myself - eating solo is not so fun. :(

So, without further ado, a picture collage of my trip. Here are some beautiful shots of the city. Remember how there are footpaths everywhere? Well, my first morning, I took footpaths all the way to the City Hall (which is also the location of the annual Nobel Prize Banquet). Along the way, I took a lot of beautiful shots of the city. Check these out:


Beautiful architecture across the waterway


For being so water-logged, the citizens have got transportation figured out... it's easy to walk or take public transit everywhere, but bridges are available from one island to another.


Trying to get the essence of the city... water, boats, and beautiful buildings

The first thing that I did was take a tour of the City Hall. There is a tower there that you can climb for great views of the city, and I did that too. I think it's always nice to start a trip with the "bird's eye view" for perspective, and this was no different. So, in case you don't know, here is something I learned in Stockholm... the origin of the Nobel Prize. In the early 1900's, Mr. Nobel was faced with a dilemma - lots of money (he invented dynomite) and no kids. So, he decided to form the Nobel Prize Foundation to honor individuals worthy of the award each year. The prizes are in several categories - medicine, peace, economics, ect. Because Nobel was from Sweden, the awards are giving out in Stockholm each year (with the exception of the Peace Prize - that one is given out in Oslo), and then they have a huge banquet in the City Hall. It's amazing to imagine 1200 people in the room pictured below!!


The "Blue Hall" in the City Hall... it was originally supposed to be painted blue, but a change in plans left it as the natural brick color.


KP with the city in the background - NOTE - I am wearing a scarf! It was FREEZING!!!

So, after the amazing sites, I decided to move onto something a little more artsy. I think the biggest development in my life since moving to Europe is figuring out what my art "style" is. I've enjoyed viewing lots of classical paintings - definitely like those. Modern art - hmmm... not quite my thing. I don't really "get" it (that could be because I work in excel all day...). But, the one thing that I found that I truly like is sculpture. After visiting the Rodin museum in Paris, I was so inspired. In my research about Stockholm, I found that this city was the home to another sculptor that was inspired by Rodin. He, like Rodin, had changed his house into a museum with a sculpture garden, so I decided that I HAD to check it out. It did not disappoint. Here is Millesgarten:


Milles wanted all of his sculptures to be put high on pedestals for the nighttime effect - this was pretty cool even during the day.


Pegasus and Man - it seems almost unreal, but they have to be connected somehow!


Poseidon

That evening, I had a nice dinner at the Opera house. My favorite tour guide, Rick Steves, recommended it for people travelling solo. Basically, everyone sits at a large U-shaped bar, and so no one feels lonely. It was perfect, the food was great, and the service was outstanding. The Swedish guy next to me didn't speak much English, but we exchanged a few words and I had a nice night.

On Sunday morning, I woke up and decided that sightseeing was going to be secondary that day. Being such a beautiful city with so many footpaths, this girl needed to RUN! I ran 7 miles, all over the place, and just felt so AT PEACE. I didn't pass a ton of people, as it was about 7:30 am, but I didn't mind. Running in nature is my own personal zen. I couldn't think of a better way to start the day. And that was actually the BEST part of my day. Being in such an amazing place, that says something! :)

My first sight-seeing stop was the Vasa Musuem. Now, the Vasa was a warship that was built in the 1600's. Unfortunately, it was so overbuilt that it was top-heavy and sank on its maiden voyage. The ship wasn't uncovered until the 1950's, and is now preserved in its very own musuem. It was pretty cool to see the boat, and also a film on how the preservation occured. Fascinating!


The Vasa - the only boat from this time actually still in one piece!

Now, after this, it was dilemma time. Both the sights and the shops were only open from 10 to 5 - so I had to make a decision - see the sights or shop at the amazing shops? My logic was this - I can only see these things while I'm in Stockholm, and I can shop anywhere, so I better see the sights. This will be THE LAST time that I go to something that I'm not super interested in just because someone says it's "a must". Nothing that does not sound interesting is a must. So, rather than giving my credit card a workout on all the cool housewares, etc, in Stockholm (which was probably a good thing in some ways), I spent the rest of the day at the Nordic Museum (marginally interesting... learned a lot about Swedish life and customs) and at the Skansen museum, which is basically a re-created old Swedish town complete with people in costumes. Rick Steves gave this a 3 diamond rating - his highest - I would only give this rating to people that have overly hyper children that need to run around for a few hours. I thought it was BOR-ING! Realizing this early on, I decided to cut my losses and still get some shopping in. I went to the amazing NK department store, which is kind of like the Harrod's of Stockholm, and just walked around wide-eyed. They have so many interesting things there!!


The Nordic Musuem - beautiful on the outside... not so interesting on the inside.


The architecture inside, however, was breath-taking... reminded me a little of St. Paul's Cathedral in London for its simple beauty.



Skansen, my own personal prison for a few hours...

After these adventures, I was exhausted. I had made reservations for a smorgasbord at the Grand Hotel for 7:30 that evening, so I decided I better rest up before filling up. I took a well-deserved nap, and then headed out for my smorgasbord. Holy cow!! I haven't eaten that much in a long time... basically, you start out with cold fish - herring, salmon, etc. Next are many kinds of salads, followed by cold meats, then hot meats, then cheese and desserts. Oh my goodness! I had to try a little of everything, and there was really very little that I didn't like. I walked about a mile back to my hotel after that, just to let my poor tummy digest!! That was a great last meal in the city.

The next morning, I decided to get one more beautiful run in before heading back to Amsterdam. I enjoyed running so much there - it reminded me of Portland with the beautiful landscape and the rolling hills. I didn't really realize how flat Amsterdam was until I ran on hilly terrain!! :) Now I understand why my bundidos are not quite as toned as they once were - not to fear, I turned on the hill trainer on the treadmill this morning! :)

So, what's next for KP? No major trips planned for now until October. Sean will arrive on October 12th for a week in Italy. I can't wait. Between now and then, I have a lot of events going on in Amsterdam - I'm running my first road race in Europe this weekend - it's a 10 miler called the Dam to Dam.

Portland alert - I have officially booked a trip home for November - I'll be in town the 22nd to the 30th. Mark your calendars!! :)

Miss you all!! xoxoxo

Just when I thought I had it all figured out...

Okay, so I'll be honest... this whole European kissing thing sort of threw me for a loop when I moved here. I'm more of a hugger personally, and Europeans kiss - sometimes twice, sometimes three times, it just depends on where people are from. Honestly, kissing on the cheeks is WAY less intimate than hugging if you think about it, but, still, it was different for me.

Well, just when I thought I had it all figured out, people started HUGGING me!! When I left for Portland, it was all kissing goodbye - co-workers, friends, everyone - kisses! Today, I saw a few co-workers that I hadn't seen yesterday, my first day in the office. When they leaned in a little closer, I puckered up and laid one on their cheek, but they were going in for the hug. Can we say AWKWARD??? Here I am kissing, and they are hugging, and it was just WEIRD. So, I'm wondering if while I was gone everyone decided to pull a big switcharoo on me... don't get me wrong, I love hugging, but I think there needs to be some sort of signal to do as you are leaning in so you know what to expect... that way you aren't left feeling like a total dork when you just kissed your co-worker!

Just thought I'd share... :)

Top 10 Things about my Trip Home

Here I am... back in Holland. Okay, I'll be honest. The whole time I was in Portland, things felt so natural and normal, and then I would have this weird flashback that I live in Europe - oh wait, I do. Strangely, that made me really sad despite all of the great adventures I've been having. I guess it just takes a while to really build a life, which is what I did in Portland and am still working on in Amsterdam. Well, that, and I had some really strong arms to hold me tight every night while I was in Portland... :)

Okay, so without further ado, I hereby present the top 10 things about my trip, in no particular order...

1. Pedicure/Manicure Day with Leslie - Pedicures and Manicures were my little indulgence while I lived in Portland... for $30 for both together, it's not too expensive of a habit. When I moved to Amsterdam, I was pretty dismayed to pay 40 euros for a manicure alone, so I decided to give up that habit. My hands and feet were so happy after this little treat, and my heart was happy after getting to spend my first afternoon in Portland with Leslie. She picked me up at the airport, and we picked up right where we left off. No pictures of this one, but I don't really think you want to see pictures of my feet anyways - they are ugly at best, even with pretty nail polish. :)

2. Amos Lee Concert with Amber and Suzie - Amos Lee has been my favorite music artist for about 4 years now... I've seen him 4 times in concert, so when I saw that he would be playing in Portland the day that I arrived, I jumped on getting the tickets. He played outside at the zoo, which was amazing. It was so nice to enjoy Oregon's beauty and Amos' music at the same time, along with the company of great friends. I had no problem staying awake even though this was my first day in Portland.

The Outdoor Stage

Suzie, Amber, and me, looking a little sleepy... :)

3. Arriving to Sean's house to lots of surprises... flowers, perfume, and a beautiful new dress to wear out to dinner. He really made me feel special. Wouldn't you know that in all of our excitement to see each other we forgot to take pictures??

4. Hood to Coast - this was my 6th time running this crazy event, and I was on a pretty good team again this year. We finished in about 30 hours. The hardest thing about the race was the heat - it was in the 80's for my first and last legs - not quite used to that weather with the Holland summer I've been having!

Our Van waiting at one of the exchanges for the other Van to trade off

Yours Truly running to the exchange... note the Porta Potties. I once read a statistic that every Porta Potty in the Portland Metro area is rented out for this event. Yummy.

Each team is required to have 3 volunteers, and Sean volunteered (by my STRONG suggestion) to be one of ours... they ended up putting him in charge of the exchange because "he looked smart". :) Thank you, SEAN!!

Our Team at the Beach - Glad to be done!!

5. A lovely BBQ at Anna's House - My friends are amazing... because Anna knew that I wasn't going to have time to spend with each person individually, she put together a BBQ at her house for all of my old book club friends plus a few other people. It was so good to see everyone and their families that are growing up so quickly. :) We had a really lovely time - thanks again Anna!! :)

Rebecca, KP, Suzie, Anna (with Merrick), and Sara

6. Ordering my custom golf clubs!! So, I think I've mentioned before that I've taken up golfing, and I've really been getting serious about it since I've moved. Nike offers its employees a 50% discount (or close to that... not really sure) on custom golf clubs, so on the first Sunday I was in Portland, Sean took me to the golf club and I got measured for my very own "big girl" set. I had a set from college, but I think they have worn out their usefulness, and I am really excited about trying these new ones out. :) (And Sean's excited that I'm playing so much... it means that maybe just maybe we'll see each other every once in a while!) :)

7. Burritos as big as your head - I miss Mexican food. Period. The Mexican food here is just a shadow of what it should taste like... and so, I was sure to indulge on a burrito as big as my head. And, yes, I ate the whole thing. And, yes, it was delicious!

Yummy in my Tummy!

After burritos with Raelee and Michelle, we went over to see Cristina, another one of our running buddies. It was SO good to see her and her beautiful son Mateo. :)

8. Running with my Friends - one of the things that I miss the most about Portland is the great running group that I had... I just haven't found anything similar here yet. I didn't get to run with the full group, but getting to run with Michelle Middlebrooks (TWICE!) was great! As always, with the great conversations we have (about any topic you can imagine... really... anything!), the miles just melt away... Miss you girls!!

9. Getting to see my family - Well, trying to look on the bright side... my grandfather passed away, which was terrible, but because of that, I was able to get to see my whole family. If I hadn't seen my sister at the funeral, I wouldn't have gotten to see her until Christmas, which would have been a full year since the last time we had seen each other. It was really great to get to spend time with my family, and I think that was exactly what we needed during this tough time.

10. Spending two weeks with the love of my life! Sean and I have done a really great job of keeping in contact - we have video dates almost every day, and at least e-mail each other if we can't talk. We have grown so strong in this time apart. Honestly, I think that when I left if people had to place their bets, they would have put them in the "this isn't going to work" bucket rather than the "these kids are going to grow strong in their love for each other" bucket. But, we are deeply entrenched in the love bucket. It was AMAZING to get to spend two weeks together. I loved every second of it... we had so much fun, no matter what we were doing. Sean and I agreed that after the crazy week I had had, we needed some relaxing, so we went to beautiful Bend, Oregon for the weekend. I had my first white water rafting and mountain biking experiences, and didn't kill myself doing either. We had a great time, and the time passed way too quickly. The past few days have been hard... I can only describe the feeling in my heart as a heartache... we counted down to this trip for so long, and then, bam, it was over in the blink of an eye. We've agreed that 3 months is way too long to wait to see each other, so we're going to try to bring it down to 6 weeks. Our next trip is in less than 40 days - we are going to Italy together to tour Rome, Naples, and the Amalfi Coast! :) I can't wait!!

Young Love in Bend, Oregon

KP trying not to fall off of a cliff! You know me!

Sean on one of the mountain bikes we rented - very fun, and I only fell off once! :)

The best feeling in the world...

Beer sampler at Cascade Brewery in Bend... yum!

Time passed by WAY too quickly. It was so great to see all my old friends, my former co-workers, and my family. I couldn't ask for a better support system - I am a very, very lucky girl. Thanks for everything!! I think I'm coming home to Portland in November for Thanksgiving, so, for those of you I didn't get to see this trip, hopefully this next trip will work out better!! Miss you all!