busy busy busy (and broke broke broke)
The ballet on Monday night was awesome! It consisted of three 30-minute performances: Petrushka, Les Sylphides, and the Firebird. The costumes and sets were beautiful, and of course the music was awesome. I love Stravinsky! :)
I spent the afternoon before the ballet wandering around Amsterdam by myself, taking in the sights, popping in and out of shops, and watching people. What I saw made me change my mind about Amsterdam. I'd previously only been there during the summer and was never very impressed-- too many tourists, too flashy and commercial, trying too hard to live up to its own reputation. But this time around I saw more couples and families and fewer loud tourists with tennis shoes and guidebooks. Amsterdam more on its own terms. It probably also helped that the trees were bare and the weather chilly, and that it gets dark so early now-- all those things lend a very austere atmosphere to the place. And Christmas lights, which always make me unreasonably happy, were everywhere. :)
My wanderings unfortunately lead to feet full of blisters, despite wearing sensible shoes. I first took the metro to somewhere in Amsterdam-Oost to go to an aquarium shop there called Mollienisia, which is very small and unassuming but which sells killifish (which are otherwise impossible to get ahold of, except through mail-order). I drooled over the various killies and chatted with the owner a bit about them, but the shop was really busy so I eventually left. Decided to walk from wherever I was to the Muziektheater, which was quite a hike. Picked up the tickets and wandered around town for a few more hours until Rick was finally able to get off work. As usual, he didn't leave work on time, so we had less than an hour before the ballet started. No time for a real dinner, so shoarma it was. Ugh.
Yesterday was spent running errands, and today will find me in Amsterdam again, this time for Rick's company dinner. Which, considering the company has all of four employees, should be nice and cozy. :) I am a bit nervous about making a good impression, as my Dutch is okay but not great, and I am not good at small-talk even in English. And I have no idea whether to say u or jij to Rick's boss-- he's young, informal, and wears jeans every day, but he's still Rick's boss. Guess I'll see how he introduces himself and take my cue from that...
Tomorrow I'll be in Rotterdam, meeting up with 68024 and company, and the next day is New Year's. Then there's just a day out in Leiden on the 5th with some friends from back home before I fly back to Dallas on the 7th! It's crazy around here lately! My biggest worry at the moment is money, or rather my complete lack of it. Had to borrow money from Rick yesterday to pick up my prescription at the apotheek and for my train ticket today, and I'll have to do the same for tomorrow's trip to Rotterdam and dinner. I feel really awful about it since Rick is dangerously close to being in the red himself with the new house payments on top of rent for this place, but he's been very understanding. I sure wish the dollar would perk up a bit, though... :(
Anyway, gotta go do some laundry if I want to have anything fancier than my dinosaur t-shirt to wear tonight. I'm not sure where we're going (Rick has no clue and never remembers to pass these things along even when he does), but I should probably try to make a decent impression. :)
I spent the afternoon before the ballet wandering around Amsterdam by myself, taking in the sights, popping in and out of shops, and watching people. What I saw made me change my mind about Amsterdam. I'd previously only been there during the summer and was never very impressed-- too many tourists, too flashy and commercial, trying too hard to live up to its own reputation. But this time around I saw more couples and families and fewer loud tourists with tennis shoes and guidebooks. Amsterdam more on its own terms. It probably also helped that the trees were bare and the weather chilly, and that it gets dark so early now-- all those things lend a very austere atmosphere to the place. And Christmas lights, which always make me unreasonably happy, were everywhere. :)
My wanderings unfortunately lead to feet full of blisters, despite wearing sensible shoes. I first took the metro to somewhere in Amsterdam-Oost to go to an aquarium shop there called Mollienisia, which is very small and unassuming but which sells killifish (which are otherwise impossible to get ahold of, except through mail-order). I drooled over the various killies and chatted with the owner a bit about them, but the shop was really busy so I eventually left. Decided to walk from wherever I was to the Muziektheater, which was quite a hike. Picked up the tickets and wandered around town for a few more hours until Rick was finally able to get off work. As usual, he didn't leave work on time, so we had less than an hour before the ballet started. No time for a real dinner, so shoarma it was. Ugh.
Yesterday was spent running errands, and today will find me in Amsterdam again, this time for Rick's company dinner. Which, considering the company has all of four employees, should be nice and cozy. :) I am a bit nervous about making a good impression, as my Dutch is okay but not great, and I am not good at small-talk even in English. And I have no idea whether to say u or jij to Rick's boss-- he's young, informal, and wears jeans every day, but he's still Rick's boss. Guess I'll see how he introduces himself and take my cue from that...
Tomorrow I'll be in Rotterdam, meeting up with 68024 and company, and the next day is New Year's. Then there's just a day out in Leiden on the 5th with some friends from back home before I fly back to Dallas on the 7th! It's crazy around here lately! My biggest worry at the moment is money, or rather my complete lack of it. Had to borrow money from Rick yesterday to pick up my prescription at the apotheek and for my train ticket today, and I'll have to do the same for tomorrow's trip to Rotterdam and dinner. I feel really awful about it since Rick is dangerously close to being in the red himself with the new house payments on top of rent for this place, but he's been very understanding. I sure wish the dollar would perk up a bit, though... :(
Anyway, gotta go do some laundry if I want to have anything fancier than my dinosaur t-shirt to wear tonight. I'm not sure where we're going (Rick has no clue and never remembers to pass these things along even when he does), but I should probably try to make a decent impression. :)