Typical...

So, every Monday when my colleagues and I arrive in the office, we are always complaining about how cold it is. That is because the heat gets turned way down over the weekend, and then our Facilities Service team doesn't turn it back up until around 6am, which doesn't give the building enough time to heat up.

Rather than turning the heat on earlier (as I have to think we would do back at home where things are "normal"), here is the solution in our Facilities Newsletter:

Climate control
When you come back in the office after a cosy Christmas, the temperature may feel low around the office. We assure you that it is regulated to within accepted levels. If you are cold, an extra layer of clothing could well be the answer.

Way to go, Dutchies!! Couldn't help but post this... it kind of represents my frustrations in general. Rather than fixing a problem, just deal with it!

Wishing you all a happy (and warm) Holiday! :)

Slight Change in Plans...

I had originally planned to go to Luxembourg this weekend with Leslie and Eric, but, unfortunately, the two of them came down with a horrible flu on Thursday, and we had to cancel our trip. I was bummed not to go, but, not much you can do about the nasty flu that's been going around here!

Friday night was our holiday part at work, and I had SO MUCH FUN!! It only lasted until 12:30, and the time went by WAY too fast! There were so many people out at the venue that was rented in Amsterdam that it was hard to keep track of everyone that I had come with and wanted to see. I know that I talk about all the people that I've become good friends with, but I honestly didn't have a picture of some of them until last night. So, now you can put some faces with names. HAPPY HOLIDAYS!! xoxo


KP with Zoe and Nadia - my friends since orientation on the first week there! Two awesome gals from the UK! :)


Good looking bunch of gals... Marilou (my yoga instructor), Sonia (my cute Spanish friend), not sure who this chick is, Mayte (fun colleague from footwear), me, and Gulsun, who you all have seen before - my friend from Rotterdam who I ski with!


Sanne and KP - one of the footwear designers that I love and who turned me on to Bikram yoga


We had a cover band... they played Phil Collins and U2 - sometimes, the music tastes here make me scratch my head...


Stefano, my little brother, and his lovely girlfriend Rixt... love these guys! :)


Erwin & KP... I think I can say that Erwin was my first Dutch friend... love him and his lovely girlfriend, who unfortunately couldnt' make it.


Alex, my tiramisu instructor, Claudia, my dear friend from RoPa Run, and, hmmm... looks like Hugh Hefner... oh, wait, it's my crazy friend Anthony! :)

Gulsun, my buddy for the evening, Paulette from the UK, and Dom, a fun designer friend who had me over for some pre-funking...

I have to say, I am so blessed with friends. Everywhere I have lived - Enon, Toledo, Portland, Amsterdam... everywhere, I have had the most amazing friends that make living so much fun! The friends that I have made here are what is going to make it SO HARD to leave. Thanks to all of you for being you and being a part of my life. All the best to you and your families over the holidays!!

Hospitable Hungary

I'm on a mission. My 30th birthday is this coming July, and my goal is to see 30 countries by the time I turn 30. After this past weekend, I'm at 26. I know, I know, I'm crazy, but these are the things that I enjoy... a little personal challenge never hurt anyone, right? :) In the meantime, I've seen enough cool things for a lifetime!! :)

So, I've pretty much seen all of the countries that are pretty close to the Netherlands, so I'm having to branch out a bit. This past weekend, I visited Budapest, Hungary. I didn't really know what to expect. One of my first boyfriends was from a Hungarian family, so I did know a little about the food, but, other than that, I went with an open mind.

Prior to going, I had been in a training class, and there happened to be a guy in my class that was originally from Budapest. I barely knew this guy, but I could tell he was really nice. I told him I was going to Budapest, and he told me that he would tell his family that I was coming. I thought maybe I'd meet up with someone for lunch or something, but, no, his family went totally out of their way - his dad met me after lunch on Saturday and took me all over the city doing sight-seeing, and then he made reservations at a traditional Hungarian restaurant and both he and his wife met me there for dinner. What a heart-warming experience. I travel by myself a lot, and, while I don't mind it, having people to share meals with was SO much nicer. I was just blown away by this hospitality - and to a girl they didn't even know! Wow!

I got in late on Friday night, and found my way to the apartment that I had rented. I like staying in apartments when I can - it just feels more like you are a part of the city, and you can get locations where there are not hotels. The location was fantastic, the woman who met me gave me a hug goodbye (seriously, these people are SO nice), and the price was amazing - 30 euros a night! That evening, I walked about 5 minutes up to the Christmas market that was alive and kicking up the street... I had a yummy dinner of potato dumplings with onion and paprika, and then called it a night.

The Market

Palace by Night

Saturday, I got up on the early side and had breakfast at this lovely cafe that felt like it was straight out of the 1920's. I then took a bus tour out to an amazing sight - it was a statue park of statues from the communist era. Might not sound so interesting to you, but, in a Europe where communism has been gone since 1989, it's not everyday that you get to see this kind of thing... most of the statues were destroyed, so this was a real treat.

Stalin hailing a cab ;)

This one was amazing - if you see the guy next to it, you can imagine the scale

After the revolt of 1956, the big statue of Stalin was torn down, Saddam Hussein-style. All that was left were his boots, and these are them (is that even proper English?? Seriously, the longer I am away from home the more I start to think things sound funny!!)

When I got back to the city, Mr. Hamori met me and walked with me around the city. First stop was the big Market in town, which was designed by Gustav Eiffel. It was sensory overload once again - food, crafts, people - wow!

KP with the Market

After a few hours, Mr. Hamori dropped me off at Hero's Square, which is supposed to be like the Place de la Concord in Paris - a celebration of Hungarian heros

I did some sightseeing on my own for a few hours, and then met up with the Hamori's for dinner that evening. Mrs. Hamori didn't speak English, but I could tell she was SUCH a sweet lady by the twinkle in her eye. We spoke through her husband, and it was such a nice, relaxing evening.

Me with Mr. and Mrs. Hamori after an amazing Hungarian dinner

Sunday morning, I started the day off early and went to one of the famous Hungarian baths. Turned out it was me and people my grandparents' age at that hour. :) But, still super relaxing. I have adult-onset ADD, and have a hard time sitting in one place at a time, so it was fun to jump from lap pool, to warm pool, to warmer pool, to steam room, and back again. I ended my experience with a massage, and felt oh-so good. :)

The bath house was within this lovely hotel. :)

After relaxing all morning, I wasn't really feeling up for a ton of sight-seeing, so I had a lengthy-lunch (complete with cold wild berry soup - yum!), and then just walked around. I saw a few churches, etc, but nothing too exciting. The view from the top of the hill I walked up, however, was amazing:

The Hungarian parliament building

I had to head back to the airport around 3, and found my way on public transit no problem. I think that's one of my favorite parts about new cities - trying to figure out how to get around without a car. I NEVER do this in the US, but maybe it could be a new challenge. :)

Next stop... Luxembourg this weekend with my friends Leslie and Eric. That makes 27... ;)

Thanksgiving Visitors

Okay, okay... I'm a little behind on getting this updated! :) The Saturday and Sunday before Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough to get to welcome both my parents (on Saturday) and Sean (on Sunday) to Amsterdam. My parents' flight got in at 6am, so I boogied over to the airport to get them, and then proceeded to tell them that we MUST take a nap when we got home. Despite my dad thinking that he "wouldn't be able to sleep", both of them passed out for a few hours, along with myself! We had a really nice, normal day that day, as I didn't want to plan too much with them getting in so early and having some jet lag. They are such troopers! It's so fun to take my parents around - it's really cool getting to show them things that are normal to me that they are seeing for the first time. :) Best part of Saturday? It was the Ohio State-Michigan game, and I had recently downloaded ESPN America - and the GAME WAS ON!!! We got to watch the game (and some serious Wolverine butt-kicking!).


Dad and I sampling an "Oliebollen", literally "oil ball". Mmm... healthy! ;)


We also checked out a local brewery which is inside of a windmill! Fun! :)

Sean arrived on Sunday morning. His flight unfortunately had been delayed, and so, since we had planned on going to Germany that day, he willingly came with us directly from the airport on a two and a half hour drive to Cologne for the Christmas Market... he was a trooper too. Especially since the Christmas Market didn't start until MONDAY. Oops. :( We still had a fun time walking around, trying German food and beer, and seeing where the Market would be... the next day. Needless to say, I felt like a major idiot, but everyone was totally understanding (or so they say...). :)

Pitsticks (plus Sean) at our lunch spot in Cologne

Monday and Tuesday, Mom, Dad, and Sean toured a few of the towns in Holland while I went to work. It's always so hard for me to be at work when my loved ones are in town, but, 1. I'm running out of vacation time and 2. I've already been to most of these places anyways. Still, I would have much rather been with them than at work...

Tuesday, November 25th was my parents' anniversary, so we went out for Italian food to celebrate. As I think you know, because I've been b#$^$ing about it so much, Dutch customer service isn't exactly a highlight of living here. BUT... when I called to make a reservation, I told the host that it was their anniversary, and they brought us all limoncello and my parents a piece of cake FOR FREE. I couldn't believe it. It was a super nice evening. :)

Wednesday I took the morning off and went with Sean and my parents to the Flower Auction at Aalsmeer - it was fascinating. Most of the flowers that you see all over the world pass through this auction. Bidders bid on various plants/flowers as they go by, and then the flowers are immediately packaged and shipped, maybe to be found on your front door tomorrow (ha - if only we were that lucky, right?!?). ;) Watching the operations was like watching ants on an anthill, and I'm seriously surprised that I didnt' see any accidents with the crazy way things were going. It was definitely a unique experience. :)

The Wall Street of Flowers

The flowers getting packaged and shipped

Our Thanksgiving plans did not include the following: 1. Turkey 2. Pumpkin Pie 3. Football 4. Fat Pants. What they did include, however was this: 1. Belgian Beer from a Monastery 2. Belgian Waffles, straight off the grill 3. A delicious local Belgian dinner and 4. The Mannequin Pis. :)

Thursday morning, we drove first to the town of Westmalle, Belgium, to check out the monastery there that brews one of the 6 Trappist beers from Belgium (Trappist is an order of monks). You can't go into the monastery, but you can walk around the grounds and then drink the beer across the street. We then made our way to Brussels, where we just relaxed for a bit before our amazing Belgian dinner. The restaurant we went to was fantastic, and the whole thing was run by one man - he did all the seating, order taking, food bringing, and plate taking away. Not to mention made sure that our glasses were full at all times. Seriously?!? Belgian is another word for heaven. :) It was a really nice dinner, and I have to say, I didn't really miss the turkey.

The next day, we did some sightseeing between the raindrops. It was fun to see some new sights, but, to be honest, the weather was pretty crappy, so we chose to get home early and have a night of pizza and beer! :)

Sean and I with the Mannequin Pis in Brussels

Mom with her Belgian Waffle... beer, waffles, fries, and chocolate - CHECK! Trip complete! :)

My parents and I with the Royal Palace

Sadly, my parents had to leave on Saturday morning after a quick week. It's always nice to see them, and I love the relationship that we have. Sean and I had two more days together, and we tried to make it as normal as possible - going to movies, out to dinner, to the driving range, and just making dinner together...

I'll be home (HOME home) in Ohio from December 22nd through January 2nd. If you'll be around and want to get together, you know how to find me.

Happy Holidays!! :)