Christmas in Amsterdam
I don't really have that warm, fuzzy Christmas spirit this year. I guess partly because I've been so incredibly busy with work and Christmas preparations, that I haven't had time to relax and enjoy the festivities. And then, of course, we flew to Amsterdam last night, and celebrating Christmas in a different country is always a bit weird.
My Christmas Eve tradition basically consists of watching lots of films and tv specials. All day long. And that tradition is hard to duplicate elsewhere when you don't have access to the tv channel you need.
I can't get over how amazing it is to be back in Amsterdam. I wish we could stay for more than three days. I haven't been to Amsterdam since 2007, I think. I remember feeling "homesick" for Amsterdam when I lived in Japan, and I know we haven't been able to go to Amsterdam after my stay in Japan, so... It's been a while. Nothing's really changed, though. My favourite shops are still where they've always been, and the city is the same international melting pot of awesome that it's always been. It feels really good to be back.
We're so unprepared for Christmas, though. Christian's parents brought traditional Norwegian Christmas dinner, so there's that... And Christian, his sister, and I ran around to find a Christmas tree earlier. We found a miniature plastic tree, fully decorated, at a shop near the flower market that sells Christmas decorations all year round. I'm not quite sure the trees were for sale, but we got one anyway. Also a present. Wrapped and everything. Looking forward to unwrapping it later.
It doesn't seem like marzipan is a traditional Christmas thing over here, so failing to find what we were looking for, we delved into the supermarket's selection of "kerst" goods. Always interesting to try traditional sweets from other countries. Meringues seems to be a thing people eat a lot if for Christmas here. I really don't know enough about Dutch Christmas celebrations. They have the whole Sinterklaas - Sorte Piet thing, but I forget what it's about, and when in December it's celebrated. I'm curious to know if they do anything special for Christmas Eve at all. Seeing as kids get presents for the Sinterklaas celebrations, and that such a large part of the population is Jewish and Muslim.
Anyway. No matter where you are, or how you spend your holidays. A very merry Christmas from me :)
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