Christmas 2007

Our first Christmas in 

Amsterdam was much more low key than in the US.  Perhaps it's because it's not as commercialized here in the Netherlands or it's because the Dutch celebrate on Dec 5th.  We're still adjusting to all the new holidays.

  

 Abigail has been writing Santa Claus letters (daily) about what she wants for Christmas.  She would like a pink bike with a baby seat for her babies.  The look on her face on Christmas morning when she saw the stockings and the pink bike was priceless.  It was hard for her to focus on the rest of the presents after that, all she wanted to do was go for a bike ride.

 


 

Christmas in Dusseldorf

We decided that Amsterdam just wasn't into the Christmas spirit and heard they know how to celebrate in Germany.  We decided to load up the car with the family and head off for a 5 hour round trip drive to Dusseldorf.  We called Che and Wendy and they said they would meet us.  God bless them.  They made the drive with their 2 month old girl.  They are brave and up for almost anything.   

The rumors are true.  The streets are decorated with lights and Christmas images.  There are markets set up where there is food, wine, beer, sausages, ornaments, and all kinds of Christmas nick-naks.  Abigail ate a one foot long bratwurst (her first ever) and we all had roasted chestnuts.  There are Christmas carolers singing in English and in German.  It did put you in the Christmas mood.  We ended the evening with some large beers and a heart attack on a plate.  There was more sauerkraut on the plate then most people eat in a year.  It was great and on that note we called it a night.  Next year we are going to go earlier in the season.

 

First Goodbyes

We have just learned that we will say our first goodbye to our good friends the Talwars.  We always heard that the hardest part of this experience would be having good friends leave and leaving good friends.  We didn't understand that until now.  We have only known them for a short time but we consider them as dear friends and will stay in touch with them wherever they decide to relocate to.  Amy and I are betting on India and if that comes true, we will be adding a blog entry about visiting India.

Vijay, I thank you for stopping at Amy's office and introducing yourself.  If you did not do that, I am not sure that we would have met and I know our transition to the Netherlands would have been much harder than it was.  Nita, I thank you for including the token "dad" in your daily journeys around town.  I know I got much more out of this experience with you around then I would have without you.  Abigail is sure going to miss your kids but I am sure they will keep in touch.  We want to say thanks for everything and successes in where ever it is you settle on living.

We are lucky that we are going to be able to go to Egypt for the holidays with the Talwar Family before they have to come back and pack up.  I am sure we will have experiences there to talk about for a long time to come.

Abigail & Sinterclause

 

Abigail got to experience Sinterclause with her Dutch school.  I think she was a bit confused with the tradition as she was wearing a Chinese dress on dutch Christmas but it is the thought that counts.  She got her face painted so she could be a Zwarte Pete.  She sang songs in dutch and even got to sit on Sinterclause's lap.  Not all the kids got to do that.  When Abigail woke up on the 5th of December she found new PJ's in her boots that were left by the fire place.  She was so happy.  Now it is onto Christmas and the real Santa Clause.  She wrote Santa a letter requesting a pink bike with a baby seat on it for her baby.  I hope Santa gets the letter in time.

Happy Holidays!!

Seasons Greetings from Amsterdam, Netherlands...

It's our first holiday season away from the US.  While it's not the same without our friends and family, we are very lucky to find some new friends to share in the holiday celebration.

Here are some photos from our group family photo shoot from Amsterdam.  

Don't be surprised if you see these photos in your Christmas cards.  

Sinterklaause

It's the start of the Christmas season here in the Netherlands...

St. Nick arrived from Spain yesterday on his boat and rode his white horse through the streets. He is accompanied by his black slaves (!) named Zwaarte Piet (literally "black Peter"), who carries sacks of toys and coal. The toys are reserved for children who have behaved well during the previous year, and are placed in wooden shoes left on the back porch for this purpose. Naughty children receive a lump of coal. Now they say the Zwaarte Piet is not a slave but he gets his color from coming down the chimney. They celebrate Sinterklaause on December 5th and that is when they do gift exchanges.

Try explaining this one to a three year old. We are working on it. Now we are figuring out that her English friends and her are comparing notes about what their parents are telling them. We are all getting on the same page now. Santa Clause and Sinterklaause are cousins....

We are getting ready to have Thanksgiving with some of the other families we have met here. It will be fun to get together but then it is right into full Christmas mode.

Apple Picking

Abigail and Dad were able to join her pre-school in an apple picking outing. It was quite fun. I was able to meet most of the Dutch parents and see her play with her new friends. We were able to walk right up to the trees and pull the apples off. Abigail thought it was fun and she even ate an apple with the skin on (her first time). Her teacher names are Suki and Efita and they are by far the best in her school. They really plan allot of events for the kids. The boy in the last picture is her new best friend. He is from India and is the only other kid in her class that speaks English. They are even starting to be able to switch between Dutch and English quickly.

Abigails First Haircut

Yes, time has come, our wild child needs a hair cut. Her hair is down to the small of her back and it is starting to get lots of knots. Amy says it is due to the ends being thin and starting to split. I am the worst dad!!!! How can I let my little girl get split ends???? OH the travisty. I finally talked Amy into cutting Abigails hair. I think I finally won the argument when I said she could have 6 bottles of wine and get Abigails hair cut for the price it would cost us to take her to the hair dresser. Wine....Hair dresser for a three year old......Tough decision. I have to hand it to Amy, she has more guts than I have. I know I couldn't of done it. I was afraid would make her look like Sinead O'Connor.

Abigail looks great and she walks now flipping her hair around like she is Prince Charming in Shrek 2. I appoligize to those who don't have kids and don't watch kid movies, think of Farrah Fawcett with her long locks on an eposode of Charlies Angles.

Halloween 07

We have celebrated our first Halloween in the Netherlands. We are fortunate to have Nike friends who love the holiday and threw a party for all. They even had kids over early so they can get dressed up and enjoy the day. I'm not sure they knew it but the party was a week early but who am I to complain. Abigail was so happy because she got a new outfit from Amanda that she was able to wear. Sorry Amanda, I know the dress was for Christmas but how can you say no to such a cute girl. She wanted to be a princess. She walked around the party and told everyone she was a princess with wings and that she could fly. She didn't realize the 'wings' were three feet wide when she walked everywhere, but why should she care. She has Mom and Dad to follow her around and clean up. The best part of the entire night was the kids going door-to-door trick or treating. Did I mention they do NOT have Halloween here in the Netherlands? Top that off with the fact we were a week early and you had some interesting looks and gifts. Some of the people actually went into their baking stuff and dumped chocolate chips into the bucket. Some others just opened a bag of crackers and gave the kids crackers. It reminded me of when I was a kid and you heard about the razor blades in the apples or the warnings about don't eat anything that isn't wrapped and store bought. You couldn't say that about this experience. Needless to say, the kids loved it.

Abigail has two great teachers at her pre-school. They decided to have Halloween on Halloween so Abigail got to dress up once again. This time she understood what was going on and wanted to dress in something scary. I don't think she pulls off scary, but I give her props for trying. The only problem with this was they never left the school so all we heard all night was "I want to go trick or treating." I was lucky enough to have language class that night so I didn't have to deal with it.

We were told to expect a few trick or treaters in our neighborhood so I went out and got some candy. Our neighbor hood is extremely international so I was fully expecting some action. In my eyes, the best part of the day was when I came home from class and the entire bowl of candy was still there. Amy said she didn't get anyone at the door. Now I will have to exercise even more but my taste buds sure do love it.

Julie's in the Dam

Picture Coming Soon (Tweedies)

We have had another visitor from Portland. Aunt Julie has made it to Amsterdam. Amy and I give her all the credit in the world. She was on a work trip in New York and was to fly back to Portland for the weekend and then to Chicago the next week. She decided that a 7-hour flight to Amsterdam wasn't any worse than a 6-hour flight back to Portland and made a last second reservation. That is what I love about her. She is always up for anything and doesn't let a little ocean get in the way.

I don't have any pictures of Julie's time in Amsterdam because we were having so much fun that we would forget to pull out the camera. I could photoshop her into a few but that wouldn't be any fun. Julie, you will have to come back. Next time a bit more time and we will go get some chocolate in Belgium!!!

Julie took to Amsterdam better than anyone I have met. At about 10:00pm one night I looked at her and said do you want to go out and ride to Tweedies? It is a local coffee bar by our house. She said yes but little did she know that she was going on a two-hour tour of the city with me before we would go. Most people are intimidated by riding here, but not her. She even had the added challenge of night time riding, NO BELL, and the bike was set up for Amy (small). She swore I was out to kill her by putting her on a bike without a bell. In two hours we were able to see the Pipe, Central, Rembrandts Square, The Port of Amsterdam, The Jordan, The Old South, and two of the other Red light districts that are not the tourist attractions that the one in the central is. We ended up stopping for a beer and then came home. No Tweedies. Sorry Julie. I put a picture of it on this so you can see what you missed. Just remember the porch. Much safer!!! The following day we went to dinner at a friends and Julie agreed to ride with me to get burritos. This time she was on the spare bike set up for her. What a difference it made. About 2/3 the way there she rides up along side of me and says "Are you for real? There isn't a Mexican joint closer?" I had to laugh and say it is only a 10 min ride to the place. Yes Julie, everything in 10 min here. By the way, there is a Mexican joint by Liedseplein (where we had beers) that is great. That is only a 2 min ride. SORRY.

Julie, we loved having you here and it makes us realize how good of friends we have in Portland and how much we miss all of you. I can't wait to have you back here. Next time you are taking us to Paris and showing us all your old hangouts!!

Dentist Visit

Dental Care in a foreign country can be quite interesting. You hear stories about all the bad things that can go wrong and how behind the times we "Americans" think other parts of the world are, but you rarely get a chance to experience it. I went to the dentist a few months ago for a pain in my mouth. After several visits we determined one of my fillings had a small fracture under it and the filling needed to be replaced. When I started the process I asked about a rumor I had heard. I asked "Is it true that dentist don't use Novocain in the Netherlands?" I was re-assured time and time again that they do and that I wouldn't see any difference in dental care. I can tell you that from that point to now I would say the dental care here has been outstanding and more advanced than in the states. They all use digital technologies and different more efficient processes. I know a little bit about this as I have built several dentist offices and had to prepare for all the technology they use.

Then I go in today to have the filling replaced and my teeth cleaned. I sit down the first thing out of the dentist's mouth is "you want to do this without Novocain, right?” I think I had the dear in the headlight look. I said "what? I thought you used Novocain hear." When the truth came out, he had squeezed another patient into the schedule and he didn't have all the time he needed but he could get it done if he went without the Novocain. He sold me on it with "when in Rome be a Roman. This is how the old school Dutch do it." The challenge was thrown down so I said, "LETS GO FOR IT." I will tell you that it was done in 20 min and it didn't hurt any worse than the actual Novocain shot. I was amazed. Then it was time for the cleaning. They don't use the old pick and scratch method here. They opt for the industrial, diamond-encrusted sander that is so pointy that they can shove it down below your gum line so far that you swear they are at the root of the tooth. This is when the pain started. Now I know why the Dutch teeth look so bad. If they got them cleaned every six months, by the time they were 30 the teeth would be sanded away. Wow that was an experience.

All and all I think I like the lack of Novocain. You can leave the office and have a drink, or eat, or talk right afterwards. You don't feel like your face is the size of a balloon or that you are going to get called a chipmunk for the rest of the day. Amy has her checkup and cleaning on Thursday. It will be interesting to see what her experience is.

Lily Visit 2007

In less than one month we have had our second house guest. I have to label this Lily 2007 because I have a sneaky suspicion that Lily will be back to visit.

We visited a small town in Germany in the Rhine River valley. Let me tell you that September is not the time to go if you want to feel like you are in civilization. If you want to be alone and not have to fight the tourist, it is a great time to go. We all decided that we do not have to go back to this area anytime soon.

Don't get me wrong, it is beautiful and when you think about when the castles were built and the living conditions the people would have to live in, it makes you feel good that you are going back to your warm hotel room with running water and a proper bathroom. I don't know many people that could have survived living in a castle 400 years ago.

Germany was good for one more thing, driving!!! The freeway had a 130kph (80mph) speed listed but I didn’t see anyone obey that. The cars pulling campers were even going faster than this. I think the average driver was doing 150kph (93mph) to 160kph (99mph). There were quite a few that were going 190kph (118mph) and over. I was passed like I was standing still by a Porsha and I was going 180kph (112mph). Thats cool!!! The only down side of this is you can see your gas gage go down rather quickly. It costs around $126 USD to fill up the tank. Thats a big price to pay to go fast.

Next it was off to Paris. Amy’s 3rd trip, she loves it, but I don’t know how much our bank account handle. I think Lily really enjoyed seeing all of the sights, but was amazed how much there was to see and do. One of the best moments had to be when Abigail told Lily that 'she couldn't make it' and asked for her stroller...she was a sleep in 10 minutes.
Lily and Amy had a field day at the giant Louis Vuitton store and enjoyed all of the shops.
Abigail finally got her wish and was able to go up the Eiffel Tower (2nd level) and danced with her Mom and Dad. She was all smiles, but now realized that there another level (the very top) and wants Lily to take her back when she bigger. Looks like Aunt Lily will be making another trip to Paris.






Between Amy, and Lily there were over 600 pictures. They are Asian. It is in their blood.

The Peak Family Vacation (Girls Only)

Our first house guests. Amanda and her Mom (Beth) were the first to make it to our new home. This was their first trip to Europe and I am glad they chose to come to Amsterdam. Amy and I would like to say thank you for visiting us. It is great to see good friends and to be able to share in a great experience for the two of you.

The girls were able to visit Amsterdam for a few days. They were able to go to some of the Museums, Ann Franks House, and a canal tour. We did take them to the Red Light district one night so they could see it with their own eyes. I tried to warn them but we turned one corner and Amanda almost jumped out of her skin. She was not expecting the girls to be right there! She composed herself quite well and we continued with our tour. Beth was wondering where the boys in the windows were. Beth, I still haven't found them and I will not be putting much effort into it...Sorry.

If anyone didn't know, Amanda is the all powerful when it comes to famous people bios. I watched more Entertainment TV that week then one person should have to in a year(or lifetime), it was one of the only English channels we have. Amy sure did enjoy discussing clothing, shoes, and all of that stuff they cover with someone who cares and understands.

We were all able to go down to Antwerp and sample the chocolate for a day. After all of that, Amy was able to head off to Paris for a long, girls only weekend. It sounds like they had a blast. I have put some pictures here of their time in Paris.
The girls starting a night river tour of Paris. It doesn't look dark to me?
Can you see where the artist got his inspiration?
Look at that confident and gorgeous lady.










Mom is still in charge. Amanda, did this bring back any bad memories?














Amy returned home with a new purse. THANKS Amanda. You were supposed to control her spending. In all fairness to Amy, she has wanted one for some time and she is using it. I still don't get the argument that it was cheaper to buy it in Paris then in the States but I will let this one slide.




Amanda - Abigail is still asking when Payton and Max are coming to visit. She is worried that Payton doesn't have any friends. Isn't she thoughtful! :)