The Late Thanksgiving Post

Thanksgiving was our first holiday away from home since the move and Erika's first ever away from home, so we weren't sure what to expect. Erika ended up working out of town on Thursday and Friday, so she spent the actual holiday eating Mexican food in a tiny town with a couple of coworkers. Then, over the weekend, she caught a nasty cold and spent most of Sunday and all of Monday sleeping. (She's feeling better now, though.)

However, somewhere, between the Mexican food and the Kleenex, we did manage to get in a nice little Thanksgiving. On Friday we went to a music festival and caught a couple of bands, including a singer/songwriter, Jenny Owen Youngs, who Erika and her friends were really excited about. (Rob liked the show, too, but mostly because she also sang this song.) Then, we went out for DISCO BOWLING! Well, it was called disco bowling, but Rob suspects it was really techno bowling since they didn't really play any disco...

On Saturday one of the bigwigs from Erika's office hosted a huge Thanksgiving dinner for the Americans and there was even some college football. The dinner was great and it was nice to celebrate with other people and eat some pumpkin pie. On Sunday we had another Thanksgiving dinner with our friend, Jon, and several of his Dutch friends, who were pretty much in awe of the vast amounts of food.

In the end, it was a pretty good Thanksgiving despite being away from our families. We had plenty to eat, saw most of our friends, and we learned that the Dutch really, really like sweet potatoes.

"Labor Rather Permitted"

That's the literal translation on the back of Rob's shiny new residency/work permit, which he picked up today. So, the, ahem, six month vacation is nearly over as the search for a job begins. We don't really know what kind of job he'll land, but we are sure hoping he gets paid in Euro- the dollar is killing us over here!

Rob is definitely ready to get back to work, not that the vacation hasn't had its moments...

If you're wondering what to get Rob for Christmas...

Isn't this so much better than a scarf?

It's Always Sunny in Barcelona

It doesn't snow much in Amsterdam, but after getting hailed on last Friday, we sought refuge in Barcelona. Well, that would be a cool story- whenever it gets cold we jet off to the beach- but the truth is that Erika's firm has a week of "training" and Rob tagged along for the weekend. (Rob is pretty sure that it's all an excuse for a trip to Barcelona, but Erika assures him that somewhere between all the sangria and the sunshine there are conferences and classes to attend.)

The weather and the city were beautiful and like good tourists, we managed to see the obligatory giant European church, although the one in Barcelona is actually a lot different than most:


Mostly though, we had fun hanging out with our friend, Colleen, who was in the neighborhood visiting her cousin, who is studying in Spain. Together, we saw the Sagrada Familia basilica above and took a gondola to the park that overlooks the city. Here, Erika enjoys the view:


Not everything went according to plan, however. Our friend, James, was supposed to join us and couldn't, so the girls mourned his absence over a few dozen drinks. James, you were missed.


Still, it was another great trip and Erika gets to hang out in Spain all week, "training" with the firm. Here she is, hard at work on her siesta:

Killer of an Advent Calendar

Does everybody know what an advent calendar is? Rob's family spent so much time in Germany when he and his brother and sister were kids that he's not sure if it's a mostly German thing or if it's universal. An advent calendar can take many forms, but for Rob it is a box of chocolates with one chocolate for each day of advent (each day in December leading up to Christmas, for you heathens). Each chocolate is behind its own cardboard window and every day you find and eat (for breakfast, preferably) one delicious chocolate in solemn anticipation of the coming celebration of Christ's birth. (Actually, the best part is when you forget about it for a few days and then have to eat three or four pieces of delicious chocolate in solemn anticipation of the coming celebration of Christ's birth. Plus, when your little brother is six years younger than you, he doesn't always know what day it is, so you can..., um, wait, that story doesn't exactly fit with the Christmas spirit... Nevermind.)

Anyway, the calendars are usually decorated with Christmas imagery or winter scenes, or a house with 24 windows, etc. But then there's this article (click to read):

"What says Christmas like a serial killer?"

How about that? Here's the pic:


And they say Germans don't have a sense of humor...

A Brand New Expat

Don't you just hate those people that do everything better than you? We've been pretty happy with ourselves for making the big move to Amsterdam and navigating through the Dutch bureaucracy and the new culture and then our friends Aaron and Sara come around and do it all while blindfolded, 7-months pregnant, and with one hand tied behind their backs. Well, okay, maybe they weren't blindfolded, and maybe they didn't have their hands tied behind their backs, but they were 7-months pregnant and moved over here anyway. Well, that was a couple of months ago...

Meet Andrew, the newest member of our little circle of expats here in Amsterdam.

Andrew was born last week in a Dutch hospital, which, by the way, is totally optional here. His mom spent a night in the hospital and then was promptly sent home. The Dutch health-care system sends a nurse to their house for several hours a day to help out with baby care (and cooking and cleaning!) . She also gives great advice for new mothers: Limit yourself to one or two cigarettes a day and absolutely avoid drinking more than a liter of wine per day. Can't be too careful, you know?