Where in the world is Jamie???

Preparing for a Charlie Brown Kabul Thanksgiving

2010-11-22T18:51:00.002+01:00

First and foremost to all you Cowboy fans, who would have thought we would have one loss in November? I do heart my Cowboys!! I have spent many a late evening, early morning pacing (2 steps each way) my hooch as I listen or watch my beloved Cowboys work their way to 10-1! There are a number of OU fans here (I have emphatically stated that THIS is the only place in the world I would be friends with one of them) and I am doing my best not to talk to much trash this week (once you make the "I'll shave my head if we lose" bet you really learn your lesson) but I am ready for Bedlam!!

On to more important issues (no, I have not found a cupcake supplier) as you all know Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Luckily I have a dear friend who has opened her home to 16 of her closest friends and we are preparing for a Charlie Brown Kabul Thanksgiving (not to be confused with the upcoming Kabul Christmas Extravaganza). The saying "it takes a village" takes on a new meaning when preparing for a Charlie Brown Kabul Thanksgiving, unfortunately net grocer does not seem to be cooperating. Currently a stalk of celery is trading for a kings ransom and I have resorted to taking an extra tablespoon of sour cream at each meal so I can prepare my famous corn bread casserole. I have also resorted to trading in my Google stock for two cans each of cream corn and regular corn. I won't even get started on the Turkey's, lets just say thank goodness I had Thanksgiving in June! I was contemplating making eggnog but feared it would only end in tears.

Now for the Kabul Christmas Extravaganza....a small group of us have decided to meet the holiday head on and we are having a Christmas slumber party (don't worry it will be chaperoned) at a friends house. The evening will begin with caroling, Christmas poppers, Christmas movies, stockings and matching pajama's. Christmas morning we will move to another friends house for a fabulous Christmas brunch (maybe in matching pajama's, maybe not) and additional frivolity. I know many of you are now jealous and wish you too could be a part of the Kabul Christmas Extravaganza...but it is an exclusive club (maybe for a stalk of celery you could buy your way in).

In order to prepare for the upcoming Christmas season (and my vacation to Thailand and Cambodia) I have begun the couch to 5K program (seeing as I don't own a couch I have dubbed it Hooch to 5K). Hooch to 5K is a program you can download onto your iPod which trains you to run a 5K. It hasn't been easy and some mornings I fear that my ruking (running/walking) is responsible for some of the recent tremors in Afghanistan. But I am determined to meet my goal!

I leave in 10 days for a short trip to Thailand and Cambodia. Fear not, there are no camels to be found in Thailand (elephants are said to be much gentler). I am meeting a friend and we are going to explore Bangkok and then head to a camping/biking trip near Angwar Wat. She has assured me that after Jordan she has taken a basic EMT class and we should be fine!

Happy Thanksgiving and Go Pokes!

The unfortunate camel incident of 2010.....

2010-10-24T17:59:00.002+02:00

Working 6.5 days a week and living in an enclosed compound I often feel I don't have anything interesting to blog about.....that of course. was before the unfortunate camel incident of 2010. I will explain.

After such a fabulous time in Jordan last year it was decided that it was time for a return trip. A friend of mine from Kabul met another friend of mine from The Hague for another whirlwind trip through Jordan. This was after Tara (friend from Kabul) and I spent 12 hours in the Dubai mall....(they had Krispy Kreme how can you not love it!).

Upon our arrival in Jordan we immediately headed to a spa in the Ma'in valley, it was amazing and we had a chance to rest, recuperate and enjoy some Jordanian wine with a wine tasting. We needed to prepare for our upcoming trip to the Bedouin camp in Wadi Rum, for an evening of roughing it...(don't worry Spa appointment was made for earlier in the day at Aquaba). Before I continue with the unfortunate camel incident of 2010 (since I am a government employee I am going to create the acronym UCI for future reference) I must tell you of my retirement plan, which is to become a Bedouin camel herders 6th wife (can't a girl have dreams)? Back to the UCI....Tara was up on her camel which was then tied to my camel. As I was saddling up I swung my foot around which got caught in the rope tying our camels together, the camel begin to stand and I went into a forward roll which ended up with me unceremoniously landing in the rusty bucket that is the feeding trough. I managed to move myself onto all fours and away from the camel hooves, made sure all appendages worked I began catching my breath as number of thoughts ran through my head:

-I need a new retirement plan
-there isn't a glass of wine within 200 miles to help me recover from this debacle
-not only is there not a glass of wine within 200 miles, but I bet there isn't a first aid kit within 20 miles
-there is NO way I am headed to a Bedouin hospital
-why is it that my life continues to be one long poorly edited I Love Lucy episode?

It took me about 25 minutes to gather my wits and slowly start moving (with the help of our rather traumatized guide) to the camp, all I wanted to do was lie down and make the world stop spinning. I realized I had scraped my lower back (or more accurately my upper, upper buttocks...) So they laid out some cushions for me to lay down on, my guide poured some hand sanitizer on my wound (which for the record really, really, really hurt) as I looked around I realized that a group of Bedouin men who worked at the camp, had gathered around to offer their best medical advice. At this point I really would have loved to have found that glass of wine. The rest of the evening and next morning random Bedouins would point at my upper buttocks and shrug wondering how the scrape was progressing.

I am happy to report I have survived and am back in Kabul, I will have the medics look at it tomorrow and will never, ever ride a camel again.

I am looking forward to Halloween, a group of us is going as Gilligan's Island which should be loads of fun. I have drawn the Mary Anne straw and have a wig to complete it all!

More later as I recover for the UCI and work out my newest retirement plan.

Panjshir Valley or Bust!!

2010-09-15T17:34:00.003+02:00

So after weeks of begging, pleading and in general just looking pitiful, I got to get back out into the Afghan countryside. There are PRT's (provincial reconstruction teams) spread throughout the country and the Ambassador feels it is important for folks from the Embassy to get out to see them. A couple of weeks ago I got to Mazar...where we are standing up a Consulate, but more on that later. Anyway...today I got to go to the Panjshir Valley. We got to the "airport" at 6:45, weighed in (yes, really.....I will never, ever, ever complain about flying in the States after having to weigh in to be able to fly.....I told the "ticket agent" that my backpack weighed 75 lbs. I think he believed me). We filed out to our "ride" it turned out that our helicopter (helo to the cool kids) had formally been President Karzai's helicopter. It was very fancy and came furnished with four strong, fierce gun toting security guards (I wonder how much they weigh???)...The flight was about 30 choppy minutes. I will post some pictures I tried to take out of the windows. I bet they kept the windows cleaner for Karzai. The landscape in Afghanistan is fascinating, very brown I was glad when we started to head into the Valley and I finally saw some green. When we landed the first thing I saw were the nomads, their camels and goats. The landing zone was a field next to a stream and the front yard of the nomads. Once we arrived we convoyed to the PRT-known as forward operating base Lion. After a tour of the base (and of course breakfast) we convoyed through the valley and up to see Massoud's tomb. Massoud was known as the "Lion of Panjshir" a true Afghan hero. He stood up to the Russians and the Taliban and was assassinated in September of 2001. We were able to tour the tomb. I didn't realize that being a conservatively dressed western woman wearing a scarf rather than a burqua would make me quite the attraction. I think I had my picture taken (with camera phones no less) no less than 10 times. It was a fascinating afternoon, and amazing to see how beloved Massoud still is. As we drove back to the base we passed lots of small boys who loved to run next to the cars and give us a "thumbs up" I did ask if thumbs up meant the same in Afghanistan as it does in the States and was relieved to find out it does!!

We are on lock down for the next couple of days as the elections near. In the midst of all the election craziness I decided to throw a dinner party (I am apartment sitting). Of course I realized a little too late that means that no one will be delivering, which in turn means I have to cook!!! Between now and Friday evening I have to find pots, pans and ingredients! When you throw a dinner party (14 people-eek) in Kabul it is usually a BYOBSPG and Friday BYOBSGT (which means bring your own booze, sliverware, plate and glass! I have added tums for Friday). I may just serve everyone Lucky Charms stolen from the DFAC. Wish me luck!

Is it Monday? Does it really matter if it is Monday????

2010-08-23T19:53:00.002+02:00

Greetings from Kabul-where I think it is Monday. Of course it really doesn't matter if it is Monday except that the reruns of Big Brother are on somewhere on AFN (you know you are in a war zone when you look forward to watching Big Brother....).

I guess the big news is that I have offered to extend in the garden spot known to the rest of the world as Kabul, whether or not they are willing to keep me is the big question! I think there is concern that I will, by myself, manage to cause the price of Afghan rugs to sky rocket.

I wish I had something exciting to write, but when all you do is work (or as I like to say "save the world one HR problem at a time) and buy rugs it is difficult to find fodder for blogging.

One of the most important aspects of life in Kabul is housing. I am currently living in a container, affectionately known as hooches, that is smaller than my office (but of course I deserve my large, corner office as I am saving the world one HR problem at a time....), I have 3.5 minutes of hot water for every shower-I have learned to shampoo in the evening and condition in the morning, I have to admit there are days when lathering up can be considered a luxury. However, I am luckier than some-there are some people are sharing hooches. Which would then mean 1.75 minutes of hot water per person..but I digress. There are a finite number of apartments available, and I am number 23 on the apartment list. Now keep in mind getting to #1 on the apartment list does not mean I would be roommate free, they have started "splitting" apartments, which means you would have your own room (with a *gasp* a carpet) and share the bathroom (with *gasp* hot water) and a kitchen. I have recently realized the people that go to the top of the apartment lists are married couples-which of course has gotten me to thinking. I could easily kill two birds with one stone: If I were to marry some poor unsuspecting gentleman on the apartment list I would a) get an apartment b) make my mother happy! Sadly this brings me to the unspoken mantra of the single females of Kabul "the odds are good-but the goods are odd" So, unless Peyton Manning somehow ends up single and in Kabul I will stick with my # 23 on the list.

Off to watch the end of Big Brother and dream of a world of bathtubs and carpets.

You know your not in Oklahoma any more when.....

2010-08-12T21:27:00.003+02:00

*you use the sandbags outside your hootch as patio decoration
*you are glad Senator Kerry is in town because it means better food in the Dining Facility
*going to the "Little Prince" in Dari is almost the highlight of your week
*going in an armored vehicle to a hotel where you have to pass through 3 check points to eat off of real plates is truly the highlight of your week
* not thinking anything of standing on the streets of Kabul-outside the green zone to pick up your delivery is Indian food doesn't seem "that" bad
*whether or not your staff come in the next day is based on the new moon

Greetings from Kabul!!! All is well here. Continue to work hours that would wear out mere mortals...not those of us in the biggest, busiest and baddest Embassy in the World!!

I have been lucky enough to get off compound a number of times. We are "allowed" to walk 10 minutes to the military compound on certain days of the week. It makes me laugh because the regulations tell us we are not to run along this route. Let me tell you-if someone starts chasing me I am running and breaking every regulation known to man!! The route is very well protected and we never get out into the real world, and it leads us to the land of carpets!

I did get out into the "real world" three (yes 3) times last week. The first evening was to see a play in the local language of Dari. We sat out in a courtyard on pillows and had wonderful AFghan desserts. I found it very surreal that when the Blackhawks flew over the play managed to go on-while drowning out the actors. This has become a fact of life. I wish I could describe what it feels like to drive through the streets of Kabul. You realize that your life is in the hands of someone (the local driver) who makes $16,000 a year. Life is going on as normal, even though we couldn't even comprehend normal as Afghans know it, while at the same time you never quite know the intentions of the guy on the motor scooter as he pulls up next to you. Afghans in the rural areas put there lives in danger every day when they come to work at the American bases. Without sounding trite-thank your lucky stars you are an American. Especially since Afghans have a propensity to wear shiny suits!!

I also got to go to 2 "local" restaurants last week. I am not sure how local they are when they serve wine ($75.00 a bottle) and take dollars! I do love to eat off of real plates and drink fizzy water! The altitude does take its toll-or maybe it is just me being out of shape as I breath heavily after climbing one flight of stairs.

One last quick story. This evening we ordered food from the local Indian restaurant. In order to pick up the food you have to walk off compound to one of the busiest "traffic circles" in the area. I had to realize the absolute absurdity of the situation as 6 Americans merrily walked out to the circle, paid the driver and argued over whether he had brought enough garlic naan!! Let me tell you that was the best garlic naan I had ever tasted!!

Off to my safe hooch-going to go back to carpet shopping tomorrow.

3 long weeks till football season!!

You know you are in a war zone when.....

2010-07-24T18:56:00.002+02:00

*your office is bigger than your living space
*you wonder if the loud noise you just heard was your neighbor slamming their door or incoming, and if it is the latter would it be worth getting out of bed?
*you know it is the weekend because you can wear capri's to work
*after one luke warm shower too many you begin dreaming about a new hot water heater
*if you spot Lucky Charms in the DFAC (dining facility) and can get to them without losing your dignity you know it is going to be an awesome day, if you lose your dignity....well it will be just one of those days!

Just a few observations as my one week anniversary is upon me! I arrived in Kabul last Sunday with much less fanfare than Secretary of State Clinton. But I digress, I left Washington DC after a couple of great weeks. I got to reunite with my fabulous high school prom date and had many a fun evening reliving the good old days. Jolynn came to visit and we were proud Americans and sat on the steps of the National Archives to listen to the Declaration of Independence being read (goose bump inducing). We topped off the 4th by watching the fireworks over the Washington Monument. After finish my final training I headed out to Dulles airport with 2 of the worlds heaviest bags. Luckily the nice lady at the gate took pity on me and upgraded me to business class, as the flight is 14 hours and Afghan air was in my near future I was practically giddy. Once I had boarded I tried out all of the cool gadgets unique to business class and promptly fell asleep in my reclining chair. Upon arrival in Dubai I headed over to the Raffles-after all I needed one last night in luxury! The Raffles was AWESOME. The floor had its own butler and a bathtub almost big enough to snorkel in (and the thought did cross my mind). After a rather sleepless night I was ready for the next step in my latest adventure. It seems as though Safi (Afghan Air) has a very stringent excess bag policy and I had to pay a pretty penny to be able to even check my bags. A rather auspicious start to the day. I was glued to the window as we flew over Afghanistan-I have to say it is a rather dull landscape-pretty much brown land next to brown mountains. Upon arrival we cleared customs and headed out to baggage claim-my bags were the LAST off the plane. After paying a kings ransom to get them on the plane I would have not been happy to never see my only possessions ever again. Once through an additional security check (still don't quite understand why it is necessary to go through security to arrive in Kabul...one of lifes unanswered questions) it was into the reality that is Kabul. There was an Afghan gentleman with an American flag standing just outside the gate-so pleased that we are keeping a low profile. After blindly following him to the car I realized anyone could be standing there with a picture of an American flag! I was rather surprised as we piled into the car and headed out to the Embassy. We drove right through down town Kabul-and I have to admit not much could have prepared me for life on the mean streets of Kabul. It is chaos-makes Cairo look like a small midwestern town. Goats in the streets, kids riding goats in the streets, motor bikes, bikes, other cars, a round about in which there are NO rules and everyone wants to be somewhere else and doesn't know how to get there, women in burqas, carts being pulled by mules full of watermelon. It was absolutely amazing. I felt very safe other than the fear we were going to hit a goat (and then the fear it would be dinner). We arrived safely on compound and I was very pleased that the HR folks were there to greet me and carry my excessive baggage home.

More later-still trying to recover from the 8.5 hours time difference, the 6,000+ altitude and working 12 hour days (continuing to save the world one HR problem at a time...)

Thanks to Shannon for the gentle nudge reminding me to write!

Kabul or bust PT II

2010-07-07T03:07:00.002+02:00

Getting ready to move to Kabul takes some special preparation and training. It is recommended that we all have a "GO" bag. A bag that you have ready in case we need to "GO" quickly. Of course this is causing me some consternation. For those of you that now me-I can't make it to Paris (after months of preparation) for the weekend with both my tooth brush and tooth paste how am I going to be able to leave on a minutes notice???? So I am trying to prepare my "GO" bag early. So far my "GO" bag list has the following essentials (according to Jamie): BIG XII football schedule (which of course will be updated to the BIG XII basketball schedule depending on the time of year, a girl has to be prepared). twizzlers (after all they can be either a straw or a snack), money (a girl has to shop-even on the go), ID, a 2 liter bottle of diet coke and either a tooth brush or tooth paste (I don't think I have ever managed to make it on a trip with both so I figure why start now??)

Last week we had a week of intense training to help prepare us to work in austere conditions. Some of the topics we covered: medical training (if conducting CPR make sure you are compressing to the beat of "Staying Alive"), how and where to place a tourniquet, how to pack a wound, please note I learned all of this before lunch. We got to practice in full battle rattle-a helmet and PPE vest. I thought it was impossible to have more fun than learning to save limbs but the fun was just beginning. We loaded up and headed out of town to familiarize ourselves with guns and learn defense driving. I was very relieved to have learned first aid before heading to the gun range. I have to say much to my surprise I loved the gun range. Two years of tensions relieved in a matter of minutes! I do want to put your fears to rest, I will NOT be packing heat while in Kabul. After shooting 3 hand guns and an AK 47 I was exhausted and bruised! The recoil on the AK 47 was impressive-this helped to realize I am more of a Glock type of girl. I wonder if they come in pink?? Once again the fun was only just beginning-stay tuned for further details......

Kabul or bust!!

2010-07-06T19:36:00.002+02:00

A couple of points I have realized and need to point out before I start on the latest and greatest of my adventures.

A) Roberta (my sainted mother) was right....keeping this blog is a great diary and I should have been more diligent in the writing of my "Where in the World is Jamie Blog."

B) My 4th of July resolution is to keep up with my blog-and of course this will also make Roberta happy (another goal in my life-did I say she was a saint?)

C) I have horrific grammar....and spelling....and need a thesarus....other than that I feel a pulitzer in my future.

Where to begin?? As many of you know I am on my way to Kabul to serve as one of 3 HR officers in the ever growing Embassy. It will be a one year tour, this also means as soon as I get there I will "get" to start bidding. My dream posts are: Tripoli, Damascu, Khartoum (did I mention my mother was a saint-she is willing to keep me supplied in pickled okra and grits at any and all locations).

I arrived in Washington DC last week after a FUN filled 5 weeks in Stillwater. I HEART Stillwater. My favorite place in the world, I believe the availability of orange, grits, good friends, pickled okra, Sonic, Target have a lot to do with it. It was very much a "this is your life" vacation. I got to reconnect with High School friends and we ALL look fabulous and 29! It was great to be able to pick up after ** years of having not seen each other. There was a lot of.....and I had a crush on him, oh he was so cute and did I REALLY wear that???

I lost my cool kids card when I attended my parents high school reunion in McAlester. A couple of things everyone should know about McAlester, it is home of the state prison and "Sparky" the electric chair. You NEVER pick up a hitch hiker when leaving McAlester. However, no one came up to me and said "my you look so long for having graduated in 1960 (I would have had to go sit in Sparky had that happened.....) and I got to see my cousin Carrie! You can tell we are related-I don't think either of us paused for a breath the whole time we were together. Following the reunion we headed to Texas to do some shopping and pick up another dog to add to the Armstrong clan. (I have long ago come to terms with the fact that Bill and Roberta like the dogs better than Bill or myself...sigh). I took my shopping very seriously, when purchasing shoes (and lots of shoes were purchased) I started with two conditions: Can I outrun the Taliban in these shoes? Do they make my butt look big? Then I had an "a ha" moment....I don't need to outrun the Taliban-but rather just one other person. So needless to say the 3 inch faux alligator pumps made the cut.

Upon returning home with aforementioned alligator pumps, 2 pairs of wedges and a years supply of q-tips it was time to prepare for Thanksgiving in June. When Kathryn and I SKYPED with the family (everyone from St. Andrew's is family) last Thanksgiving I realized how much I missed a true Thanksgiving and after all in 2010 I am going to be in a war zone (my oft repeated favorite phrase, sadly beginning to lose some of its cachet) so we planned Thanksgiving in June (TIJ). I must mention that during the planning for TIJ, I mentioned my love of eggnog (only surpassed by my love of cupcakes) and recommended buying some eggnog and freezing it for TIJ-however my request fell on deaf ears. Upon arriving home I enquired as to the status of the eggnog and found that there is NONE to be found. SERIOUSLY-am I the only person that feels eggnog in June would not be refreshing? I think it would be a perfect 4th of July beverage-just add a bottle rocket. I then learned (thanks to Rachel and Barbara) that one can MAKE eggnog at home. There was much rejoicing at Chez Armstrong (did I mention my mother and father are saints??). So I threw myself into researching the miracle that is home made egg nog. I found a recipe-rolled up my sleeves, cracked open 12 eggs, poured in the 2 cups of sugar and whole milk (uuummmm healthy now I know why I HEART eggnog). I diligently stirred this heavenly concoction as it began boiling, with some apprehension I scooped out the scrambled eggs that began forming on the surface of the eggnog, at this point I have to admit I began rethinking my love of eggnog. Fear not once a dash (well....two dashes were needed to mask the scrambled egg consistency) of nutmeg was added I had made eggnog!!! I lovingly placed the eggnog in the back refrigerator to cool and thicken (in hopes of hiding the scrambled egg part)....as I relaxed I heard someone (my sainted father) open the back fridge. I then heard crash, clank followed by an emphatic DAMN and my eggnog spilled all over the garage (still smells like nutmeg). Bill is sticking to his story that the fridge door broke-however I think there is more to this story than meets the eye. For those of you on the edge of your seats...I was not daunted and made a second and much improved batch of eggnog!! Thanksgiving in June was a huge success and those of us at the children's table had a fantastic time!

More to follow-I haven't had a cupcake in a matter of hours and I am beginning to feel a little light headed!

Jordan Part II

2010-01-03T18:48:00.002+01:00

After spending the morning bobbing in the Dead Sea and trying to see across to the Promised Land it was time for an afternoon in the Spa. We had decided to spend a day relaxing and it was one of the best ideas I have had!!!! I had the Dead Sea package which consisted off: salt scrub, dead sea wrap, massage and facial. It was fantastic! Very relaxing and I am convinced I look 20 years younger......I am sure our guide felt 20 years younger after having a day free of the two of us!! We were off to Petra-one of the reasons for the trip! We drove along the Dead Sea and saw the phosphate, sulpher and Dead Sea product factories. We also stopped off at one of the crusader castles in the middle of the country. I can't even describe the amazing landscapes throughout the whole country. I have never seen so many different types of land formations. We spent the day traversing the country, shopping and eating before arriving in the city that is right outside of Petra. We were up early the next day and met our guide who would walk us through Petra. We walked about 2 kms from the visitors center through the "Siq" which is a narrow walkway that has been carved out by water throughout the years. It also served as a natural defense throughout centuries. Petra is also a "lost city" and was not rediscovered until the early '30's. Just when you think you will never get there the "Siq" opens up and you are staring at the Treasury which was carved out of the face of a giant slab of rock. I will provide pictures because it is impossible to describe....until I had made the plans to go to Petra I had thought the Treasury was all there was to Petra...little did I know. We needed two full days there. We walked through city, seeing all of the tombs, the collanade where shops and houses were until we reached the steps to the Monastery. While walking we were offered donkey rides, camel rides and postcards for a dinar! There are still two bedouin tribes that live in Petra. I have decided my retirement plans must include living in Petra and being in charge of the donkeys-camels seem too tempermental! The monastery is at the top of 950 steps, for some reason when I heard this I pictured 950 steps straight up to the top but I was wrong. The steps wound through a mountain-and there were some rather precarious moments. Off course we had to give the donkeys carrying people to the top the right of way. The donkey's were led by 5-6 year old bedouin children-I'm still not sure who was in charge-the donkeys or the children! After about an hour we made it to the top and it was fantastic. The walk up was part of the adventure-once again the views were absolutely stunning. After reaching the top we continued to explore and I was thrilled to find a diet coke! We headed back down and wandered back to the Siq-it got dark at about 4:30 and we wanted to be out before it was dark-but that was not the last we saw of Petra. That night at 8:30 we joined 458 of our closest friends and went to Petra after dark. The Bedouins set up candles through the Siq and we were all asked to quietly make our way down to the Treasury. It was amazing to walk through the Siq-the moon was full, it was quiet and so peaceful. Once we got back to the Treasury candles were lined up on the ground in front of the monument and we all sat on the ground, were given tea and listened to two musicians play old Bedouin music. It was fantastic.
Unfortunately we only had one day left......but as they say the best is often saved for last. We went to Wadi Rum-which is where Lawrence of Arabia was filled. We loaded into the back of a Toyota pickup (no such thing as OSHA or toilet paper in Jordan!!!) and were driven through Wadi Rum-once again it was indescribable-so I have included pictures....I have already decided that I am going back to Jordan in the fall. You can stay overnight in Wadi Rum at a Bedouin camp (they may even let me take care of the donkeys!!!).

Well I am thrilled that it is the New Year-lots of changes in store for me this year. Off to Italy for some skiing in a couple of weeks-not to worry I will be a much better blogger this year!!!

Another New Year, Another Resolution!

2010-01-01T17:07:00.003+01:00

I seem to remember making the resolution last year that I would be better at keeping my blog up to date. Unfortunately, as with most of my other resolutions, that did not seem to happen. Why don't I try this again????

I just returned from an absolutely fantastic trip to Jordan. Jordan (especially Petra) has always been on my "bucket" list. When I thought my next posting would not be anywhere near Jordan I convinced a friend to join me in leaving winter in The Hague behind and heading to Jordan. I had been looking forward to this trip for months and was worried it would not live up to expectations....the trip was fantastic and not only lived up to but exceeded all expectations!!! If you ever have the chance to get to Jordan the country is amazing. As always when traveling there is one major draw back: toilet paper is considered a luxury not a necessity! Of course this is easily remedied. I think the best part are the marriage proposals! My friend and I each had an offer..we joked that our guide would be the marriage broker. My friend was worth 150 camels and I was distraught to find out that I was worth 2 camels and a kidney!! If only the bedouin had realized how knowledgeable about all things to do with Cowboy sports I would like to think I would have brought in 5 camels and a pancreas....sigh....

We left Amsterdam on Christmas day and were welcomed to Jordan with enthusiastic "Merry Christmas" greetings. We had a guide who also acted as our driver- the poor man had the patience of a Saint, he carried our shopping, answered all of our questions as well as insisted we hold out for goats to go with our offer of camels and kidneys! He probably needs a vacation from our vacation, but he helped make the trip to Jordan one of my favorites! Our first day consisted of a trip through Amman, up to an ancient Castle and through the ancient ruins of Jerash and then over to the Citadel to see some of the dead sea scrolls. We then had a typical Jordanian dinner-it was possible to have hommous for breakfast, lunch and dinner and I took full advantage. It was fantastic to actually see blue sky and the sun!! The next morning we concluded our tour of Amman and drove past the Embassy and saw the modern part of Amman. The homes were huge and a world away from the older part of Amman we had seen the day before. Everywhere you looked you saw a picture of the very popular King Abdullah. Spotting new and different pictures of the King became a favorite past time of mine-the poses varied from cheering on the Jordanian soccer team, a plethora of pictures in military uniforms and with his family. I was tempted with a life size rug with the picture of the King's face but decided it would have to wait! We headed out of town, saw world famous mosiacs, Mt. Nebo (where Moses first saw the promised land) and shopped!!! Upon hearing that the Dead Sea products will make you look 20 years younger I pulled out the VISA! If only they could make you look 20 pounds lighter! After filling up the trunk of our car our long suffering guide dropped us off at the Dead Sea for 2 nights.

After starting the day with hummous we moved down to the hotels private rocky beach on the Dead Sea. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip!!! Prior to "floating" in the Dead Sea one must slather on the Dead Sea mud (still hoping to look 20 pounds lighter!) then it is time to wade into the Dead Sea. As they say a picture is worth a 1000 words so I have included a picture-you literally float. The Sea has so much salt that you can't even walk in the water-you are carried away! I have never laughed so hard!!! It was a great time....it is recommended that you only stay in the water for 15 minutes or you will be dehydrated!

More to follow tomorrow (one must slowly wade into resolutions + dinner is ready!)

London and Valencia...so many places not enough time

2009-07-21T19:52:00.002+02:00

Well still no bid list I have about given up and figure I will be in The Hague forever! All is well except for waiting on pins and needles. All mid-level and senior level got their lists last night which makes the waiting even harder! I am having a quiet evening tonight, watching the rain coming down in sheets. Going away parties on Monday/Wednesday/Thursday and then to the Army base this weekend. It never stops!

I just got back from a trip to Valencia, I emailed my travel agent and asked what he recommended. All I wanted was sun, sun and sun! Valencia was recommended as cheaper and just as charming as Barcelona so off I went! I went done on Thursday and one of my friends met me on Friday afternoon. I enjoyed a relaxing day and a massage earlier in the day and then did some exploring. Valenica is a fantastic small city where you can walk almost anywhere. It was fantastic. The sun shone the whole time-I even had to buy sun screen and a hat! On Saturday we went to the aquarium, my cab drive had told me it was one of the best in Europe and it was great, I felt like I was twelve. I watched the penquins, the dolphins, sharks while being in the sun!

Two weeks before Valencia I went to London. I have a friend who lives there and another friend who had never been so off we went! It was perfect timing-Wimbledon started on Monday and it is one of my favorite things in the world to do. It is so nice to stay at a friends house, you can sleep in, take your time getting started in the morning the bad thing is that no one makes the bed for you and no free shampoo! We went to high tea at Brown's on Sunday. I hadn't thought ahead and didn't bring any dressy clothes for tea so I had to wear my jeans. I decided that if they wouldn't let me in because I was too casual, I would just tell them I hadn't arrived that day and the airlines had lost my luggage! Luckily they didn't care what I looked like, as long as I spent my money! It was great fun, they even bring you more scones if you want them (and we did!). On Monday I got up at the crack of dawn and travelled across London to Wimbledon...the first day of the Championship no less! You can "queue" for the 6000 tickets that are reserved for general admission. The gates open at 9:30 and the doors open at 10:30. I was number 2851 when I arrived at 7:00 am! I couldn't believe the queue. People had started queueing on Saturday afternoon.

When you arrive at this giant field set aside for queueing you get in line. An usher comes along soon and gives you were ticket-you have to have this to get your actual ticket. People kept coming and coming and coming. We finally began to move at about 9:00. The field has a great atmosphere, people are happy to be there, the weather was great-everyone was convinced Andy Murray was going to win (little did they know). We were probably a mile back, I met a Canadian couple on their honeymoon and an American mother and daughter who had tickets for center court the next day. Everyone wanted the queueing experience (and we got it!). As soon as I got in the gates I headed over to court 3. I had planned my day around watching the Americans play. James Blake was on court 3 and I was really excited to try and get a seat. Luckily I was early enough to get settled in-James Blake was not so lucky and was the highest seed to lose on day one. After cheering with no luck I headed over to one of the smaller courts to watch Mardy Fish. I finally got a seat, at this court I was literally on the court, it is amazing how close you can get. I was watching Mardy play an Italian, the Italian was not faring well, I didn't realize how poorly until the guy I was sitting next to stood up in disgust and left. As he was leaving I looked at his badge and realized he was the Italian guys coach! All of this fun for 20 pounds sterling! I then wandered over to the practice court-but didn't see anyone I recognized (and no Italian coaches). I watched a few more matches and just enjoyed the fantastic atmosphere. A day at Wimbledon is something I would recommend to anyone and everyone.

Well I am going to continue ignoring my blackberry and continue to hope for a bid list to appear. As soon as I know anything I will post!

So many stories-so little time

2009-06-09T21:48:00.002+02:00

So much for my New Years Resolution to be better about my blog! Things have been busy. For Easter I went to Malta with 7 other friends. Can you imagine 8 women and we were all still speaking after we returned home. Then my family came to visit and it was off to Ireland. They left on Wednesday and the following Saturday I was off to Florida for a HRO conference. It was great to hear stories from other posts and meet my colleagues. I got back on Saturday (a week after I left) and the next weekend headed to Florence. From Easter until June 2nd we have so many holidays that we literally only have one 5 day work week in that time! This week is going to be llloooonnnggg!

Florence is an amazing city. I had a hotel right in the middle of town-the hotel actually had FOX NEWS. I was in heaven! I have to admit I was astounded at the differences between the Dutch and the Italians. It isn't really anything you can put your finger on-but I l saw the first difference as soon as the plane landed. We weren't even to the gate and people were already up, in the aisle and ready to start disembarking! It was willy nilly-no structure for the rest of the trip (except when watching FOX NEWS). The first day I just enjoyed eating gelato, walking around the markets, eating gelato, seeing the churches and then I had a last gelato before bed. Sunday I woke up and headed to the Uffuzi gallery. Luckily I had made reservations, the line is two hours long (that is a lot of gelato). The gallery was amazing. Not only are the pictures fantastic and there is a fantastic view over the Ponte Vecchio. After a couple of hours I was getting the shakes-I needed a gelato. I headed out, got my gelato and wandered over to the Medici chapel, a little church in the middle of town and home to three Michelangelo's. There are no words to describe it....I then headed over to a little trattoria for lunch and a glass of wine. I then made my way over to the Academia to spend a little time with David. Once again I was smart enough to have reservations-no line for me. I headed through the metal detector, into the museum and turned the corner....at the end of the hall-past all of the tourists in their bermuda shorts and black socks was David, in all of his glory. I just sat and soaked it all in. In the hall leading up to David are the "prisoners" sculptures that Michelangelo had started but never finished. I then followed the Italian tradition and went back to my room for a little nap before heading out to dinner. Restaurants don't even open until 7:00-luckily gelato is considered an appetizer by those in the know.

Most of my waking moments are now consumed with getting ready to "bid". This is the list of open HR positions in Embassies around the world. After I get the list I will have about 2 weeks to research, submit my choices. I now have two criteria: labor laws and weather. For instance take Islamabad: great weather, labor laws easy to work with. Do I care if I would have to ride to work in an armored vehicle? Not if the sun is shining and employee's are expected to work....Khartoum-once again great weather, understandable labor laws. I can live with an evacuation or two. One night I dreamed I was sent to Copenhagen-I promise I woke up in a cold sweat and was shaking! As soon as I get my list I will let you know. I am hoping for Africa-where they have.....good weather and.......workable labor laws.

I will work backwards on my Spring trips for my next blog.

Another day at the office!!

2009-04-09T21:58:00.002+02:00

So much for my New Year's resolution of writing more often. Life has been very exciting around The Hague. The Hague hosted a conference on Afghanistan, which meant the boss was coming! It was an amazing experience getting ready for a visit. I was the "Kurhaus site officer" the Kurhaus is an old hotel 5 star hotel at the Beach where everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) stayed. The preparation for the visit starts as soon as we hear rumors that the Secretary is coming. There is a movement officer, a luggage officer, a control officer for every VIP (of which there were many), then a site officer for every location that the Secretary visits. As the Kurhaus site officer I was responsible for the book signing the night she arrived and the Embassy Meet and Greet. We began having countdown meetings early on, I consider countdown meetings about 30 hours of my life I will never get back! A week before the visit the advance team arrives, this is the poor soul from Washington who is responsible for everything. Every detail of the visit is discussed, and then discussed again, and then since we have only been in the countdown meeting for 2 hours we discuss the details again. Since I was responsible for the M&G (meet and greet) I had to find a location for it, then plan the 15 minutes down to the last detail.....the podium had to have water and a stemless glass, and we had to have masking tape on the floor so everyone would know where to stand and where NOT to stand, which side does the Dutch flag go on and which side does the American flag go on. There was even an elevator manifest, so everyone knew when to get their VIP to the elevator and who was riding in the elevator. I have decided that my goal in life is to be the elevator manifest operator.....who says a girl can't dream. On the big day as the clock was ticking down towards my 15 minutes of M&G fame, all of the Embassy families were waiting behind the infamous masking tape line and I was sweating bullets. My biggest concern at that point in my life was making sure security told me when the Secretary was leaving her interviews so I could make sure the microphone was on and working (at least one sleepless night thinking...what if the microphone is on TOO early and runs out of juice??? No promotion for me). I was wandering through the hall when I heard a voice I recognized-believe it or not you would to-it was the Secretary on her way to the M&G. I racewalked through the halls, double checked the podium, water and stemless glass and turned the microphone on just in time to slide behind the masking tape, I had about a second to spare! I then got to shake the Secretary's hand as she walked through the crowd (everyone remaining on the correct side of the masking tape) and then "poof" it was all over! Then the best part of a VIP visit-the wheel's up party-which can't start until you know the plane has taken off and won't be coming back! All in all a great experience.

I am off to Malta tomorrow, there are 8 of us going!! Will Malta ever be the same. I am really looking forward to it, a friend is coming from London and she just had the BIG BIG boss for 3 days, so I am sure she will be ready to kick back as well.

More from Malta next week (I promise!)

AAAHHHHH Spa Weekend!

2009-02-17T18:37:00.004+01:00

Well I am back from Baden Baden and had a wonderful, if not "eye opening" time. It was a planes, trains and automobile type of trip. I left from Amsterdam and flew to Strausbourg and then took a train to Baden Baden and a bus to the hotel, by this time I was ready to spa. I dropped off my bags and walked around the town, it is a beautiful, cold, snowy town. After some exploring I went to the Fredrichsbad spa-it is billed a Roman Irish bath. When you first arrive you go to the locker room and strip down to your birthday suit-the only suit allowed! You are given a sheet like object, and you can tell all of the non-Europeans, we have that towel wrapped around us as many times as possible! There are 17 stages at the Fredichsbad spa and I was ready for all 17 (on Saturday's the stages mix on stages 7-12)! The first starts with a shower, then on to the "warm air bath" which is a room that is about 129 degrees, so you lay down and relax (towel still firmly in place). Stage 3 is: 154 degrees, towel not as firmly in place. Stage 4 is another shower and they take the towel away from you! Stage 5 is my favorite stage: the soap and brush massage. You get a full massage with either a rough brush or a soft brush, I went for the soft brush. Stage 6 (without the towel-or my security blanket) is a thermal steam bath. Stage 7-is another shower (they like showers) Stage 8 is when the mixing begins, both boys and girls and bday suits is the thermal full bath in hot water water. This is the point, keep in mind I am not wearing my glasses-(after all it is a bit creepy to be wearing nothing but glasses), that I took a wrong turn and ended up in the men's stage 6. The only reason I figured this out is because when I walked in the room it went silent-well there were other issues but they were a bit blurry. So after this awkward turn of events I went back to the whirl pool in Stage 9. The rest of the stages are baths that tend to get colder in nature. The final bath is 64 degrees. I was only brave enough to submerge waist deep, it is obvious I am not a true European. Then on to my second favorite stage, the relaxation room. One of my favorite parts is that you are reunited with your towel! The attendants take you to a quiet, dark room and you lay down on a heated table and they wrap you up like a cocoon and you relax! Of course this was not enough of a German spa experience so the next day I went to the Caracella spa. It is right next to the Fredrichsbad. One of the selling points is the fact that swimsuits are a requirement (on the first floor at least). At the Caracella spa there are more thermal baths, one of best parts is that you can swim from inside the spa to the outdoor pool. It was great fun to be sitting outside in the hot thermal water while it was snowing. There was also an area with sun lamps, you could spend as much time as you wanted under the sun lamps. Since I don't remember the last time I really saw the sun, I spent hours under the sun lamp. Of course I wanted the whole spa experience so I had to go upstairs to the second floor. The second floor is filled with sauna's, whirlpools and sun lamps but no swim suits. I must say I learned quickly to not lay down in the sauna's because if you lay down other sauna goers have to step over you. If you open your eyes at just the wrong time, you could be scarred for life. After venturing outside to the "fire sauna", with towel of course, I decided it was time to join the world of the clothed and I ventured through Baden Baden to the Casino. The Casino in Baden Baden is very well known in this area of the world-men are still required to wear ties and jackets. It is an amazing building, it looks like something out of a James Bond movie. There were a couple of roulette tables and black jack tables going. I bought 40 Euro's worth of 2 Euro chips and took my seat next to the guy with his 500 Euro bill (which I didn't know existed) and his 100 Euro chips. I watched and learned. I learned that if you think you are really going to win at roulette you aren't very smart. I watched my neighbor go through 1,000 Euro's in minutes. I found it all very entertaining and started betting my 2 Euro chips. I was down to 20 Euros and then I won big (as big as you can win when only gambling 2 Euros!!) so I took my 36Euro's and cashed out! I figured 4 Euros for an evenings entertainment wasn't bad! Sadly the next day I had my last spa treatment, last apple strudel and had to head home!!! I have decided that next winter I am planning some trips to places where I can see the sun shine. Sadly we don't have a single 3 day weekend in March. I hope to survive!

Exciting day today

2009-02-11T21:15:00.002+01:00

It was a very exciting day today in The Hague-for about 20 minutes the sun shown!! There was frolicking throughout the Embassy, we made plans to have lunch al fresco, I wondered where my sun screen was and then......it started to rain. Sigh....but of course if my biggest worry is lack of sunshine and worry that my umbrella won't last a winter I guess life isn't too bad! We have a three day weekend coming up and I am off to Baden Baden in Germany (hoome of many famous German spas, all of which I will be trying out) I figure if I am going to have to get naked in front of strangers I want to be in another country!

All is well here, I keep wanting it to warm up so I can practice riding my bike. So far bike commuting has been the monkey on my back. When I first arrived I bought a bike from a neighbor, it was stolen (before I could even ride it), so I bought another bike, but it seems to be too tall, so I bought ANOTHER bike. The last bike is my pride and joy. It is a three wheel orange bike with streamers. When I first arrived at the Embassy I spotted this bike from a distance and knew it was the bike I had been waiting for all of my life. The purchasing transaction went something like this: ME: "I have always wanted a three wheel bike as a yard ornament for my house" awkard pause from owner of forementioned three wheeled orange bike "so where is this yard and house that will house my bike" longer even more awkard pause from me "I don't own a house or have a yard, but can't we all have dreams?" very long awkard pause from owner of three wheeled orange bike "just give me fifty euro". So I am now the proud owner of two bikes, neither of which I want to ride! But someday the three wheeled orange bike hopes to grace the cover of home and garden! So my goal when Spring comes (which should be a weekend in April) I will find a bike to call my own and begin riding. I am very nervous about this, I have seen more people get tickets on bikes than I have seen for cars, but biking is a way of life here and when in Rome....

I am hoping I can make it through March-can you believe it is the only month we don't have a holiday? I hope I can make it! In the month of April and May we have 2 or 3 weeks that aren't 4 day work weeks! I love this country.

More after spa time in Baden Baden (no pictures I promise!).

Finland is Fantastic!!

2009-01-21T20:40:00.002+01:00

Well, I made it back from the Arctic Circle with all ten fingers and toes!! It was a fantastic trip. I went with a friend from work, and we left on Saturday. We flew Finnair from Amsterdam to Helsinki and then on to Ivalo-the Northernmost airport in Europe. For some reason I thought we would fly a puddle jumper with about 5 passengers (3 of them Reindeer) into Ivalo. I was amazed that we were in a plane with 6 seats across and it was 90% full! When we arrived in Ivalo we were met at the airport (with its one gate) by a bus from our resort. We arrived at the resort and loaded our own sled with our luggage and drug it through the snow to our log cabin. We had our own sauna-talk about the height of luxury!! After a good nights sleep we were up and at them before the sun was up (which is about 9:15!). We were off to the husky farm to try our hand at "mushing" after bulking up in our thermal gear we were given a quick lesson in how to mush. There were 142 huskies at the farm and EVERY one of them wanted to be on my team! We final got going and I was a passenger for the first portion of the trip. It was an amazing trip-we went through the Finnish countryside. It was too hot for the dogs (about 3 degrees) so they had to stop every 30 minutes. After lunch in a wooden teepee we were off again. I gathered my wits about me and jumped on the sled with a loud and confident HOOVAH (Finnish for good job) we were off!! It was fantastic! An amazing experience-sadly we only had about 45 minutes until we were home, but what a fantastic trip! After returning back to our log cabin-just in time for "sunset" at about 3:30 it was time for sauna, cribbage, a nap and dinner! Talk about the life-I think the Finns are onto something with the whole sauna thing. I read that in Finland there is one sauna for every three Finnish citizens. The next day we got up and rented cross country skis. After a few false starts, I think I could be a gold medalist in the newest event: sliding backwards down the hill that you really wanted to go up" I finally got a good pace going and was enjoying the fantastic scenery when we turned a corner and up ahead was a herd of Reindeer! They were right in our path, I remember thinking "these are Santa's friends surely they won't charge us!" After a few minutes of mutual admiration (I think) they moved on and we went skiing past. After a few more kilometers I headed back towards the hotel. Sure enough around another bend were 3 Reindeer calves. They were amazing! Very clumsy on land and very graceful in the snow (polar upset of yours truly!). So after some more skiing it was back to the cabin for sauna time, nap time, cribbage and dinner! I could have gotten used to that! All in all a fantastic trip and something I would recommend to anyone! Sadly it was too cloudy for any northern lights.

Next trip is to Germany-Baden Baden for some more resorts!

Christmas in the Netherlands

2009-01-06T18:18:00.002+01:00

Can you believe it two posts in one week!!! At least one resolution I have kept! The countdown to Finland continues, I was questioning my sanity in choosing such a trip in the middle of winter until I heard the following story. In Finland they have a wife carrying race-in which.......(this is the good part) the winner gets his wife's weight in beer!! After hearing such a snippet I wondered how I could get Finland on my next bid list. I digress...back to Christmas in the Netherlands. On December 16th it is Sinter Klaus day-this is the day Sinter Klaus (a distance cousin of our own Santa Claus) arrives at the beach, of course Sinter Klaus does not arrive alone. He arrives with his friend from the Moors known as Scharte Pete. There are two tales of how Scharte Pete became Scharte (Black) Pete. First is he comes from the Moors, second is that he is black faced because he slid down the chimney. In anticipation of Scharte Pete's arrival all of the Dutch folks line the streets and wear black face. As Pete and Sinter Klaus (who arrives on a white horse) parade down the street Pete throws candy to the good children (one of which would be me). But on the other hand he collects all of the bad children in his giant bag and takes them back to the Moors with him! Unfortunately I was in Portugal (close to the Moors) on December 16th so I didn't get to partake in the festivities. I will be ready to collect my candy next year. I had a great time in Portugal, the sky was blue and the sun actually shone. I went with one of my neighbors from the building and we did quite a bit of shopping, eating and sight seeing. Well that is enough for today. I promise more to come.......

New Years Resolution-more blogging

2009-01-03T12:07:00.004+01:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. So many trips so little time! Since I last blogged I have: jumped into the North Sea with 6,500 of my closest Dutch friends, gone to London and worked in the Embassy for a couple of days, headed to Portugal for some sun and fun, and increased the coffers of every Christmas Market throughout Germany!

I'll start with the craziness that was New Years day. Every year at the beach (which is only about 15 minutes from my house) they have a New Years day dunk where as many as 10,000 crazy people run into the North Sea for a refreshing start to the New Year. There had been talk of some of us joining in and I wasn't interested but then....I found out you get a free hat if you dunk and to sweeten the deal the free hat is ORANGE! I needed no other incentive (but when I found out you also got free pea soup there was no stopping me!) Of course this year happens to be one of the coldest years in recent memory, but orange hats and pea soup prevailed. At about 11:45 we made our way onto the beach and picked up our bag of goodies. To prove that I had made the right decision there were ORANGE gloves in our goody bag as well. Does life get any better than orange gloves, orange hat and pea soup as you dive into the frigid North Sea with 6,500 of your closest friends? As we gathered Dutch Techno music was blaring over the loud speakers and the beach was packed with both people watching and the dunkers. Everyone was wearing the orange stocking caps and jumping up and down to keep as warm as possible. At about 11:55 the stripping down commenced (just to swim suits I promise, this IS a family event!), at 11:59 we got into our ready to run stances and at 12:00 we all started towards the beach. The tide was out so we had to run further than I thought we would and I just kept laughing at the whole crazy situation. By the time I got to the water people had already been in and were heading back out to the warmth and free pea soup. After a waist high dunk I ran back and starting layering back up as quickly as I could, there was no frolicking and splasing around for me! On the way home that afternoon we all wore our new hats and gloves as a badge of honor (as if the blue lips weren't sign enough).

I had a great Christmas, a friend came to visit in December and we went on a Christmas Market cruise through Germany. It was a fantastic time, we were worried there we were going to be the youngest on the cruise but it was not to be the case! We met up with some other women traveling on their own and we became fast friends. There was much frivolity surronding table number 14 in the dining room (I'm afraid we may have even gotten a reputation as being a touch rowdy!). This was a great way to travel, we only had to unpack once, all the food you could eat (and great food at that) and we docked blocks away from the Christmas Markets. Luckily on the first day we discovered the charms of chocolate covered strawberries on a stick! That was our first goal each new market we found, the chocolate covered strawberry stand. On the trip back we resembled pack mules as we made our way back across Germany and home to the Netherlands. Luckily I still have about 3,000 lbs I didn't use in my household effects, but it is filling up quickly.

My next trip is Finland in a couple of weeks. We are flying into the Northern most airport in Europe and have already signed up for a dog sled adventure. From what I understand it is dark for 24 hours a day so it is going to be a very interesting trip. I have my Stillwater Newspress front pages so I can get my picture taken and hopefully be famous.

All is well here, I can't believe how fast time seems to fly. I promise to be better at blogging in the New Year.

Too many places too little time

2008-10-29T20:47:00.003+01:00

I have returned from Milan and leave for London next weekend! The weekend after London I head to Portugal and the first week of December I am on a Christmas Market cruise.....but the icing on the cake is a trip to Lapland (Finland to see the northern lights)!! Every once in a while I work and put your tax dollars to work!

Milan was amazing, I remember thinking there are not enough superlatives to describe this city and everything it has to offer. I flew to Milan on Saturday and once I was checked into my hotel I went to the city center. Unfortunately on the way to Milan I realized that despite all of my good intentions I had forgotten the battery to my camera! So my first stop was the camera shop....I then went to La Scala which is the most famous Opera house there is. I didn't have a spare $445 to attend the opera so I went on a tour during the day. It was an amazing site, I was able to walk inside and see the stage-which was tiny. I then walked over to the Duomo (cathedral), this Duomo is very unique in that you can walk around on the roof. It was amazing-the sky was picture perfect and the views spectacular (once again not enough superlatives). I spent quite a bit of time just enjoying the view and the peace and quiet. After one or two or maybe even three gelato stops I made my way back to the hotel.

On Sunday I had a reservation at 8:30 to see the Last Supper-I didn't realize until I started researching Milan that the Last Supper is not a painting (embarrasing I know) but a fresco on a wall in a room next to a church. Sadly the fresco is slowly crumbling. They only allow 15 people into the room at a time and you have to be "sprayed" before you go in the room. When you walk into the room the Last Supper takes up a whole wall and it is breathtaking. You are allowed to be in the room for 15 minutes and can't take any pictures. Luckily there are benches so you can sit down and just drink it all in. Believe it or not at some point in history someone thought it was a good idea to cut a door into the fresco. After enjoying my short time with the Last Supper I headed to the train station and Lake Cuomo. At Cuomo I hopped onto a boat and headed to a little town called Bellagio. The two hour trip was (need a new superlative) spectacular. The Alps are visible in the background and the shore is dotted with little towns. I decided not to take time out of my touring to visit George Clooney-who famously has a villa on Lake Cuomo. Once I arrived in Bellagio I walked around the town and had a gelato or two or three. The town is built onto a hill which means quite a bit of up and down (which is a good thing when eating your weight in gelato)!

I have been enjoying listening to my beloved Cowboys on the internet! I still get nervous, even 3,000 miles away.

I am looking forward to Halloween, we have a party at the Marine House on Saturday I have decided to go as "joe the plumber" I have a plunger and a grey t-shirt what else do I need!!!

A quiet Sunday night

2008-09-28T21:45:00.003+02:00

Greetings from The Hague. Not much going on here in The Hague. I will be in Milan in two weeks and I am very excited. Usually I plan and research and prepare for every trip I take (those that have traveled with me understand......)but I have hardly done any preparation for this trip. I have my tickets, a hotel room, two passports and a couple of guide books, what else does one need? I did try to get tickets to the Opera but did not have any luck. I am trying to get a reservation for the Last Supper (not my Last Supper of course but the famous painting). You can make a reservation to see it for 15 minutes, after you have been sprayed down for any chemicals you may have on you-I think it sounds very interesting and very blog worthy. Work continues to be busy and interesting-before my next move I am going to research employment law and that will play a large part in my preference list. Who cares if it is a third world country and I won't have internet-I want to know if my new post has unlimited sick leave! I am still in awe of a country that allows employees to have unlimited sick leave, AND if an employee is sick they are paid for TWO years (granted the second year is only 70%). AND as you get older you accrue additional annual leave. When you are 65 an employee earns 32 days of annual leave a year on top of the 22 days of holidays we have. But enough about that.....I have a new "it's not possible story". I joined the gym down the street from my apartment. I went in the first day to look around and see what it is all about and decided I wanted to join for 1 year, after all it is cheaper and we all know about the dollar vs. the euro. I soon found it "it is not possible" to join for an entire year until you have been with the gym for a year paying a monthly fee. I just don't say anything any more, I just file the newest "iinp" (it is not possible abbreviation for future blogs) away, smile and nod and remind myself I am living in Europe! I have been entertaining alot and will be hosting an Embassy wide Wine and Cheese party on October 17th, I had my very fun dress rehersal W&C (wine and cheese abbreviation for future blogs....) but I have found that entertaining in a foreign country is like preparing for a party with one hand tied behind your back and a blind fold on. The simplest things that you take for granted are nowhere to be found-for example tooth picks-who knew that Dutch people don't believe in tooth picks? I was making brownies only to find it was not possible to fit my 9X12 inch pan into my oven! What can you do but laugh and serve brownie batter for dessert and tell people it is an Oklahoma thing? Well I am off to bed-I am still trying to recover from staying up until 4:00am to listen to OSU demolish Troy, then get up at 8:30 to go to a 3 hour brunch, come home to prepare for a group of 6 to come over and have dinner and watch football (do you know I am becoming quite adept at planning meals that don't require tooth picks OR my oven).

It's not possible......

2008-09-15T20:47:00.002+02:00

The most well used words in the Dutch language...it's not possible. When I first arrived many expats told me about the favorite words for anyone related to customer service but I didn't believe them. I must say I am now in the "it's not possible" camp. I will share with you a few examples. Ziggo (internet/cable/landline company THE only internet/cable/landline company in existence) coined the phrase. One of my colleagues was having trouble with their tv-so they blocked 3 hours out of the day to call ziggo, which charges per minute if you call them using your cell phone, she was so frustrated because nothing they tried worked. They were able to get the tv picture but no sound. After the second call she finally asked if it was possible to send a technician to fix the problem, there was silence on the other end and a small voice said-but that is not possible, we only send out technicians for big problems!! Then I heard the story (true) of a friend who went to purchase a cell phone and a cell phone plan. She went the first day and found it was not possible to sign the plan AND leave with a phone on the same day. So being a true believer she went back the next day actually believing she would have a cell phone THAT day. The salesman said I can't give you your phone, nor can I tell you why I can't give you a phone, we have mailed you a letter that will tell you why you can't get your phone today. The logical line of thinking would be for the sales person to divulge the contents of this mysterious letter.....but it was not possible. But I must say the it's not possible to end all it's not possibles happened last week when a group of us went to a restaurant. I felt like I had fallen onto the front page of the Onion. There were 6 of us and we were going to *gasp* order dinner. The waiter came over and leaned over the table and imparted this gem...he says...with a table this large we could only order 3 different hot main meals after all we don't want to overwhelm the kitchen. As a newly minted member of the it's not possible club I wanted to say "well we had better not pay at the end of the meal after all I don't want to overwhelm the kitchen" instead we all just ordered another glass of wine and a every appetizer on the menu....it turns out all things are possible!

How 'bout them Cowboys

2008-09-08T18:46:00.002+02:00

I must say I was very happy Sunday morning when I woke up to find that my beloved Cowboys had won-as I like to say we are still in the hunt for a National Championship!

All is well in the Hague-as soon as September hit we have had cold, windy and wet weather. The heat in my apartment is already on! Yesterday 4 of us went to the Army base about 2 and 1/2 hours away. You would have thought we had been stranded on a desert island for years rather than living in a first world country for 3 months! We could barely fit everything into my Jeep for the trip home-of course between all of us we probably had 35 bottles of wine but MOST importantly 2 jars of pickled okra. When I saw the pickled okra I think my cheeks became damp with tears I was so happy. The funniest part is that we all shopped as though we were going BACK to a desert island, after all I know I am going to need 7 brownie mixes and 5 cans of cream of chicken soup.

I have already planned my Columbus day trip, I am going to go to Milan. I was going to just go up to Lake Como but have decided to stay in Milan and then go up to the Lakes next time I go. I don't know what I am going to do in November when we don't have a 3 day weekend, we have to work the Friday after Thanksgiving and I am duty officer that week so can't go anywhere.

Paris was great-I went with 3 friends and we had a fantastic time. Lots of wine and cheese. I was very proud of myself, I was relaxed and didn't feel the need to organize and plan (for any of you that have traveled with me you know that is quite a coup). On the first day we walked to the Eifel tower and sat in the park and drank some wine, then we walked to the Champs de Elysses to go to the Louis Vuitton store, off to Sacre Cour-the best view in Paris. We then sat in the grass, ate our picnic and you guessed it drank some wine....the next day we slept in (what a surprise given all of the wine). We had our omelets for breakfast and made our way to the Orsay museum-which is my favorite museum. We then went to lunch, while at lunch we ordered some Asparagus as an appetizer. The waiter asked us how pink we wanted our appetizer-at this point you would have thought that we would have thought something was wrong at this point but nnnnoooo...we asked for our asparagus to be not so pink. Imagine our surprise when our 9 Euro aspargus turned out to be 24 Euro PINK lamb chops. Once again who has heard of pink asparagus?? We headed over to Notre Dame and walked around the Latin Quarter. For dinner we went to the park at the Eiffel Tower and had dinner which consisted of wine and cheese! When in France! Upon my return from France I learned that I am a true Cowboy fan. I settled on to the couch to watch the game against Washington State (I love Slingbox). To my dismay, even though I knew the score I was convinced the Cowboys would some how manage to not win the replay!!

I have to get ready for my (don't laugh) wine and cheese party on Friday night. I have invited all of the my coworkers that live in my apartment complex. It is really sad but I schedule my hosted social events around the week my housekeeper comes!

Hello from the Hague

2008-08-25T19:40:00.002+02:00

I wanted to impress you with a few fabulous pictures of my apartment, some of you may pick up a few decorating tips. Of course one of which is: use avacado green as sparingly as possible. I am sad the Olympics are over, I have enjoyed watching the Olympics, of course it is much different watching BBC (British Broadcasting Company) I have never seen so much rowing and badminton in my life! Did you even know badminton (or even hand ball)was a sport? But this is after the great Dutch Cable saga was over...I have yet to quite understand how anyone stays in business over here. So I am sure you are hoping to hear about the great Dutch Cable saga....I will begin at the beginning. After waiting for 6 weeks my cable was FINALLY turned on-but what no one tells you (or maybe they did tell me but I was too fascinated with on of my SIX adult channels)is that even though you have already ordered your cable and you are already paying for your cable you have to send in a postcard telling them what cable you want! If you do not turn in said postcard they turn off your cable (SIX adult channels and all). So I call the cable company and after waiting 30 minutes I finally talk to a real person, said real person says I am not in the system. I asked myself, how can one not be in the system but ones bank account can be in the system??? We finally straightened that small problem out and after much gnashing of teeth and unplugging and replugging I have traded my SIX adult channels in for ONE NASN (North American Sports Network!). I was able to watch Lee Corso and the rest of ESPN's game day crew the other day (it sure beat the first round of Latvia VS. Guatemala in badminton).
I am off to Paris for the weekend and I am trying to decide where to go for Columbus Day-I can't decide between Portugual or Italy. I am planning on Malta for Christmas.

Hope all is well in Stillwater.....

Viva La France!!!

2008-07-28T20:24:00.002+02:00

What an amazing trip!!! I left for Paris right after work on Friday and got into my favorite city in the world (except of course for Stillwater, OK) at about 8:30 and hopped into a cab. You have to ride in a cab in Paris-nothing like putting your life on the line in the city of lights. I got to my little bitty 2** hotel that has never heard of air conditioning. I dropped my bags and headed out for a crepe...and a walk around. Saturday I got up and stopped at a Cafe and had breakfast (are you beginning to sense a theme to my trips....). I felt very chic sitting at outside at a French Cafe having breakfast. I ordered an omelet and the waitress looked very confused so I guess one does not have omelets for breakfast in Paris! I then starting strolling through Paris. I hopped on the hop on/hop off taxi boat and took it to the Latin Quarter. I came across an open air market which sold everything from bras and underwear to live fish. I then went to the Cluny museum which had amazing tapestries and stained glass windows in a fantastic old building. I then walked over to Notre Dame and then over to Ile St. Louis and walked down the main drag there. Of course I had to stop for the best gelato I have ever had (I was so enamored I forgot to take a picture!!). I then hopped back on the boat and headed to the Louvre but the line was to long to go in so I just wandered....and started to recon where I was going to watch the race. I found an English bookstore and browsed for a while. I then wandered up the Champs de Elysses. As I was crossing the "street" I held up my camera and tried to get a good shot of the Arc De Truimphe. It's not easy trying to get a pictures as you are dodging scooters, cars and busses! But I am willing to sacrifice for the sake of my blog. I then sauntered back towards my hotel and found myself.....at a Cafe for dinner. So I stopped for a salad and a glass of wine. I stopped myself at dessert (mainly because sitting next to me on the seat were pastries from Laudree.) I had to have a lemon tart and an eclair. I had sauntered quite a bit and felt they were well deserved!
When planning for the trip I made a rookie mistake and planned on coming home on Sunday. I won't make that mistake next year. Since I was leaving I decided to take a cab over to the train station and drop off my bag. I couldn't get a taxi to take me anywhere near the Champs de Elysee and it was only 10:00 in the morning so I finally just said take me as close as possible. I ended up near the Louvre and it was impossible to get around! They were already blocking off different streets. I finally took the back way and ended up at "my spot" I had decided I wanted to be on the "uphill" side of the CdE (Champs de Elysee) because the bikers would be going slower as they past me! I bought lunch and 2 bottles of water (no bathrooms=no wine) and scoped out my spot. I wanted to be on right against the railing. It made for fantastic people watching!!! I plopped down and ate my lunch, read my book and watched people. I ended up between a very happy group of Norwegians and on the other side some Dutch folks. The riders were scheduled to arrive at about 3:45...but before the riders arrived there was the strangest parade I had ever seen. All of the sponsers of the Tour had cars and 18 wheelers, some of the cars were made up into strange floats. Then they would swerve up and down the street honking!!!! It was the loudest parade I have ever seen-since when are 18 wheelers parade floats? I was wearing an OSU ball cap and sure enough I ran into an OSU person. She graduated a couple of years ago and is working in an architect firm. It is amazing how much you can find in common with another Cowgirl! The riders finally arrived at about 4:45. It was so exciting!! They just whoosh by. The yellow jersey rides with his team in the front and then all of the team cars drive by. Every time the Dutch car would drive by the Dutch couple and I would yell "Hup Hup Holland!" Everyone goes crazy as they ride by and then they go around the Arc De Truimph and then down the other side of the CdE. We all laughed because you wait for about 5 hours for 20 seconds of whooping and cheering, then you wait again while they circle around and another exciting 20 seconds!!! Since I hadn't plan well I had to leave after the 6th round!! I never dreamed they would be so late. But it was so much fun to see them drive by, see all of the cars with all of the bikes, tv cameras etc. drive by. I will try to go again next year, after they finish the race the riders come out and sign autographs etc!!

Well I had better start cleaning up. I am actually having company this week (I made the plans because I knew it would make me get organized!

Au Revoir

Rain Rain Go Away

2008-07-21T19:58:00.002+02:00

I don't think I remember the last time I saw the sun. It feels like a dreary spring. I can't imagine what spring will really be like. I am thinking a trip to Portugual or Italy is in my future. Of course this is after my weekend adventure to the Tour De France!! I am so excited. I am taking the high speed train on Friday after work and will come back Sunday evening. I wonder how many lemon tarts I can eat in a 48 hour period?
Life is very interesting in Holland. I went to Amsterdam on a business trip on Friday (In all my years I never dreamed those words would come out of my mouth!)I have a musuem pass and it is so nice being able to walk into the museums for just a few minutes and see Rembrandt's and Van Gogh's. Of course this is as long as the fumes don't get you on the way in. I was worried we would have a drug test this week-just walking around A'dam (as the cool people call it) is enough to give you the munchies. As much as I enjoy living here there are some frustrations. Most stores close at 18:00 except for Thursday night where they stay open until 20:00-which is happy hour night so not much shopping gets done on Thursdays. Stores are closed on Sunday and most of Monday. I do wonder how stores make money and stay in business but I guess it has worked for years without me throwing in my 2 cents.
Work is good-very busy. We are getting ready for the Ambassador's arrival. He will get here end of the month which will be interesting. Chances are I will get to "break in" another Ambassador before I leave post. I must say Foreign Service folks are very social. Alot of activites revolve around the Marine House. We have a group of Marines that work at the Embassy-but they have a very distinct job. They are here to protect the documents and not the people! We heard that 100's of times during training. What it means is that if the need to evacuate post (in Holland that might be due to a cheese shortage) the Marines are responsible for any documents or materials disposal. Anyway the Marine House is where all of the Marines live-for this duty they must all be single (I am old enough to be their mother) but they have a bar and an event once or twice a month. Those events are usually supplemented by Happy Hours so I keep pretty busy.

That's all from here-more after the Tour!

You know you are in Holland when.....

2008-07-14T21:40:00.000+02:00

I finally got my cable hooked up tonight so I was scanning through my 60 someodd channels and low and behold about 6 of those are "adult" viewing! You know you are in Holland when roughly 10% of your cable is adult viewing.....I didn't even order the premium channels! I just wanted to have the North American Sports channel.

I returned from Dublin safe and sound. I had a great time. On Friday I went to the old castle and had a tour, then I went to one of the old churches (everything in Dublin is old) and was able to sit in on an evening prayer service (it was an Anglican church). The next day I got up and went to Trinity college where there was another guided tour. The tour guide was a college student which made it alot of fun. Along with the tour you get to see the book of Kells which are.....old books in what kind of library??? OLD! But the books were fascinating. I then went for lunch at a little place called the Queen of Tarts-I would have gone there just for the name but the food was actually quite good. I then went on a hop on and off tour bus so I could see more parts of Dublin. I decided to skip the Guiness Brewery it was 14 Euros to get in and I didn't have time to do everything I wanted to do. So I stayed on the bus and went to a very old jail! Actually the jail was my favorite part of the trip. We had a guided tour and I learned alot of the history. For being such an old place (I don't know if I mentioned that Dublin is old or not) there is also a very recent history with an uprising in the early 1900's in which about 15 people were executed (at the jail). After I finished the tour I took the light rail about 20 minutes out and went to a fishing village and walked around. It was beautiful-of course it was cold and rainy but I felt very Irish with my wind swept hair! I saw an old abbey and climbed up a hill to look out over the ocean. I should have stuck my toe in to say I had been in the Irish sea!
The next morning I got up and went for a typical Irish breakfast (of which I took a picture). A typical Irish breakfast consists of: bacon, an egg, sausage, blood sausage and something else I wasn't quite sure about. I only ate food I recognized-I'm not that adventurous! I spent the rest of the day walking around, I found a bookstore and of course was in there for hours! All in all it was a great trip. The hotel was typical European hotel, I had to walk up 3 flights of stairs, around a corner up more stairs and down a hallway (I kept hoping to run into Harry Potter!). The room had a heated towel rack-that is when you know you have arrived!

I am off to Paris in two weeks. I was watching the Tour de France Sunday and decided I needed to be in Paris to watch it end! So I booked a ticket and made a room reservation! I am very excited. I am proctoring the Foreign Service Exam tomorrow so I had better get a good nights sleep!

Jamie

Happy 4th of July from Dublin!!!

2008-07-04T13:34:00.000+02:00

Good morning!

I just arrived in Dublin and have already created the ultimate tourist faux pas....I took a picture of my lunch! I went to a "typical" Irish restaurant (full of American tourists!!) and ordered Irish stew and it was very good and very picturesque. It was also beef, probably the first time I have had beef since I have been overseas. Not much beef to be found in the Netherlands, I also can't find cheddar cheese! There is EVERY kind of Gouda and Edam but not a bit of cheddar!

I now have my first official 4th of July function under my belt. On Tuesday we had the official party, Dutch Parliament is out today and there was concern that the attendance would be way down if we had it today-which was great for me! It was held at the official residence-of course I had already been there to have tea with the staff....I didn't realize official functions would be such hard work! Being gracious for 3 hours is hard work! I met two of my "contacts" so it was well worth it. The day dawned bright and blue and I remember thinking, it is just as well we didn't bother with the giant tent in the back yard this year it isn't going to rain! Everyone stood around and drank beer and wine for an hour until it was time for the Marines to raise the flag. As soon as the Marines started across the lawn there was a deluge of rain! Everyone started to run towards the house, as we were going up the stairs my heel caught on the steps and I lost my shoe! I had visions of being trampled as if I was at Woodstock...luckily I made it under cover with both of my shoes and my dignity! During the afternoon I must have been asked 10 times who I thought would win the election and I responded "according to CNN it is a statistical dead heat, we will all find our in November" talk about being diplomatic! (I guess my 6 months in DC weren't wasted!) With my luck if I had given an opinion the headline the next day would read "American official predicts November election! Our Ambassador arrives on August 1st which is going to be very interesting as all Ambassador's political appointees or career appointees will turn in a resignation on the day of the inauguration.

I had better get back on to the streets of Dublin. I am hoping my internet is on when I get home. My phone isn't working here so I am not able to call my neighbor to see if they came to install it today.

Have a happy 4th!

Cheese Cheese Everywhere

2008-06-28T11:18:00.001+02:00

Good morning-I am at a little bagel place called Bagel & Beans down the street from me since I STILL don't have internet access at home!! Holland is the land of Monopolies (and I don't mean Park Place Monopolies!). There is only one cable/internet/phone company and they were scheduled to make an appearance last Tuesday but they had "overbooked" and would be more than happy to come over on July 5th (a Saturday, a Saturday of my first 3 day weekend in Europe!). Luckily my neighbor-who is having the same problem will let the cable company in. So I am keeping my fingers crossed that when I return from Dublin I will have internet. Luckily the apartment still has cable so I can get my daily dose of Dr. Phil at night with Dutch subtitles.

All is well here, we are preparing for the July 4th festivities(from my understanding no turtle racing or seed spitting contests) actually they are July 2nd this year because Dutch parliment will be out and no one would be here on the 4th (yeah us!). It is at the Ambassador's residence-which I got a tour of last week by the Residence Manager. I will have to attend because I need to meet my contacts-I didn't even knew I had contacts! It is very small this year because we currently do not have an Ambassador in residence. Then early on Friday I am headed out to Dublin!!! I am very excited. I found out last week that I don't have to go to the consulates 4th of July celebration (no contacts there I guess) on the actual 4th of July so I am free to travel. I found what I thought was a good fair to Dublin on Aer Lingus. THEN I started the process of filling out all of the necessary information.......will you be checking a bag? 15 Euro (the answer is no-15 Euro will buy some Guiness)...would you like a seat!!!!!!! I had to pay 5 Euro each way to have a seat! Of course I could have paid 10 Euro to sit closer to the front of the plane or if I was feeling flush, as all government employees do, I could have paid 15 Euro for a bulk head seat!!!! So by the time I paid for everything-I am sure I will have to pay to check in, pay to use the bathroom and might even have to pay to pedal the plane! I am still very excited about the trip.

I am taking this weekend very easy-you almost feel guilty if you are living in Europe and you aren't out and about touristing. But this is the first weekend I have had a chance to revel in the fact that my household goods came last week. I was very lucky in that my parents were here when my household goods came. I went in to work for a few hours and by the time I got home at 9:00am most of the truck was unloaded and a number of boxes unpacked. The movers were gone by 10:30! It was quite a luxury for me to come home every afternoon and see the progress being made by my helpers! Don't worry it was not all work and no play. We went to Gouda-which is about 30 minutes by train and walked around the town and saw an amazing church with 70% of the stained glass in the Netherlands. We then watched with great disappointment as Holland lost to Russia in the EuroCup. Sunday was almost a national day of mourning after the loss.

I had forgotten how stressful moving is. I still don't remember my address: I feel like I am six again and need to have it pinned to my shirt. But could you remember Schenevingsweg (which I am sure I have misspelled)? That is the name of my street-Schenevingen is the name of the beach which is about a mile away. During the war the Dutch would ask anyone they felt might be a German spy posing as a Dutch citizen to pronounce Scheneveingen-if they could they new they were Dutch if they couldn't they were caught!

I am about out of battery and I may have worn out my welcome so I will close. I will try to write next week from Dublin!

Hallo from Amsterdam

2008-06-14T14:43:00.000+02:00

Greetings-

I decided to pop into Amsterdam for the day before picking my parents up from the airport. I won't have internet connection until June 24th so when I saw the opportunity to post a quick blog I took advantage. I do want to make it clear that any errors in typing or spelling come from a European style of keyboard not from anything that is offered in Amsterdam!!

All is orange in Holland so I feel very much at home! The Euro Cup is on and Holland is shocking the world! They won the first match against Italy in convincing fashion on Monday. I had the tv on in one room and was doing something elsewhere in the apartment when I start hearing all sorts of loud noise from outside-I thought I was going to have to duck and cover and start preparing to evacuate when I realized Holland had just scored a goal! If you look out on the streets during a game there is not a soul in site. Last night they beat France (and Who doesn't like to beat France!) so they are automatically in the quarterfinals-very exciting stuff! I made alot of friends when I wore some of my orange this week to work! (Orange is the national color).

I must say I felt very civilized last week when I rode the tram home from work, got off with my reusable shopping back, stopped in to at the local Cheese monger, purchased my cheese for the week, moved on to the bakery and bought some bread and finally stopped in at the local grocery store to finish my shopping. I then loaded up my reusable bag and started walking home. I felt so very Dutch. I have decided this should be the newest diet rage: you only eat what you can carry! It does make a difference in what you buy when you realize you must carry it home. (Thank goodness chocolate doesn't weigh very much!) I could have also stopped at the Herring stand for my freshly gutted herring covered in onions and eaten in one bite but I decided that there is not enough Heineken in Holland for me to take a chance on Herring!

I haven't ridden my bike yet BUT I have unlocked it and walked it around the parking lot. I haven't had a chance to register for local health care so I figure I had better wait until I do that before I begin biking.....I will be a pro before this is all over.

Well my 15 minutes on the internet are up. I am looking forward to having company for a week and hopefully my household goods will arrive while I have an extra pair of hands.

More later....

3 days and counting until the Herring Festival

2008-06-04T21:49:00.000+02:00

I have to say I am counting down the hours until the Herring Festival on Saturday. I am not exactly sure what it entails but I do know that lots raw herrings, onions and brown bread. It will be this weekend at the Harbor (did I mention that I live 1 mile from the beach?). I haven't decided if I am brave enough to see what it is all about.

Work has been crazy busy. I have told myself that I leave at 6:00, I could stay all night long but everything will still be there in the morning. Tomorrow there is an awards ceremony and guess who gets to MC? I have spent the entire day practicing my Dutch pronunciation.

I have my bicycle, I feel like I am 6 years old again-I plan to practice by riding around the apartment building, then up and down the street and then maybe over to the next street and back-maybe by the time I leave I will have worked my up to riding to work. The big big accessory are the saddle bags on the back of the bike-they come in bright flowery patterns (I think that is the only way you can pick your bike out of the hundreds that are lined up on the street).

I am starting to get used to Dutch food, my sponser was nice enough to provide me with groceries at the apartment. I remember looking at some cookies the first day and they word Rom in the title so I thought-I think those look really good but I don't want to eat anything with Rum in it when I am so jetlagged. I finally found out that Rom meant cream and they were cream cookies! My restaurant dictionary is my most important accessory.

Dutch tv is very interesting. I have 34 channels-some are in French, some are in German we have one or two in Dutch (to include Hannah Montana), CNN and BBC sometimes I will be watching something for a few minutes and I finally realize it isn't in English (especially Hannah Montana!) I had a great weekend I didn't hear the words Obama, Clinton and McCain for a whole weekend and it was fantastic (I don't think it will last).

We have a three day weekend coming up for the 4th of July-hhhmmm what should I do? Am I in the mood to head to Barcelona? Maybe Ireland or Lake Cuomo in Italy?? Life is rough!

Goedemorgen von Den Haag

2008-05-31T11:14:00.000+02:00

As you can see my Dutch is progressing admirably! Well I have finally reached the Hague and I am actually at an internet cafe where everything is in Chinese so I fit right in!

I left on Wednesday and had a lincoln town car come to pick me up, I figured I might as well head out in style. The driver was crazy, he kept wanting me to watch (as he was watching) the streaming video on his IPOD-I wondered if I would get a discount if we ran off the road. I arrived at the airport and each of my bags weighed about 65 lbs so I had a $100 surcharge before I even got off the ground! Before my plane left I found a place in the airport that does 10 minute pedicures so I had my last bit of pampering before I left. The flight was fine, somehow I was in economy plus which means that I had 5 extra inches of foot room and it was very nice. I arrived Thursday morning and my sponsor picked me up. Prior to my arrival I emailed my sponsor to ask him what proper attire would be in case I was going to have to go straight into work, he replied no worries he would be the only person I would meet. That made me very happy so I just wore jeans, afterall when I made my first appearance on Friday I would be in a suit and make sure that my crucial first impression was a good one.......it turned out that my sponsor had forgotten my cell phone so we just were going to run in for a minute to pick it up. 5 hours later I left! As soon as I got there he took me in to meet my boss, she then took me up to Country Team meeting which is when all of the section heads meet for the week. She wanted to make sure everyone met me and knew me. I was thinking surely noone will recognize me the next time they see me and I have had a shower, don't have airplane hair and the drool from sleeping off the plane has been wiped off of my shirt. Then I had a series of meetings about situations that needed immediate attention. I wanted to hit the ground running, I need to be careful what I wish for.

I then went to my apartment which is fabulous. It is in a very wooded, green area. I am on what I consider the second floor but when I took the elevator the other day I found out I am on the first floor. I figured this out after a couple of tries trying to get into the wrong apartment! The apartment is very spacious and open with huge windows on either side. There is also a front and back balcony which I have decided is just for show because there isn't any room for a chair much less a table and chairs. The avocado green bathroom is everything I hoped it would be and more, in addition to the avacado green sinks and tub I was blessed with an avocado green bidet. I promise to send pictures. Finally this morning I realized that yes I do have hot water in the shower/tub. I finally figured out that one side of the "faucet" was how much water you want and the OTHER side is temperature. This does make the bathing experience much better.

To get to work I just walk across the street and jump on a tram which takes me about 3 blocks from the Embassy. I am sure you are thinking-how nice to just have to cross the street but it is much more than that. To cross the street you must first look both ways to make sure you don't step in front of a bicycle, once that hurdle is crossed you can cross the street, then another bike path and then the tram tracks. When you walk anywhere you must be aware of bicycles, trams and cars I am sure that at one point I will be hit by one of them and I am hoping it will only be a bicycle. There are bikes and bikers everywhere. I have even seen bikes with cart type attachments in the front so people can put there children in them!

One of my neighbors took me walking around the neighbor hood yesterday. I have a grocery store, bakeries, cheese shops, a butcher and a hardware store just done the street. This morning I tucked my Target reusable bag into my purse and headed to the Albert Hein (my neighborhood grocery store). I put my .50 euro piece in the grocery cart so I could use it and started shopping, I never could find sugar or bars of soap but I am sure they are there. I then bagged my own groceries as all good Europeans do and walked home. I must say knowing you are going to carry your groceries home does change your shopping habits (maybe it is a good thing I didn't find the sugar and the soap).

I hope that anyone that was thinking of coming for a trip will. I have found the Hague to be absolutely charming, I was thinking with all of the government entities here it would just be a big city (Charles Taylor of Liberia fame is on trial). But it is an amazing city that defintely has a small town European feel to it, of course I am going to say that until I get run over by a rogue bicyclist!

Off to the museum and then some exploring. I promise to be a better blogger now that I have exciting things to write about.

Four weeks and counting

2008-05-09T00:14:00.000+02:00

Well by the end of the month I will finally be in the Hague. I must say I am feeling a slight since of Deja Vu-wasn't I just getting ready for the movers to come and filling out change of address forms. Next week I am sending out my UAB (unaccompanied baggage, goes by plane and will hopefully be there within a couple of weeks) and my HHE (house hold effects), the UAB can only be 200 lbs including the packaging and HHE has to be at least 200 lbs so there is alot of moving between piles and of course shopping to ensure I have at least the necessary 200 lbs.

I have been getting information from post-one of the pieces of information was a list of what is "hard to find" in the Hague, needless to say everything on the list is now in my living room. After all who wants to be without 6 boxes of Jiffy Cornbread and 2 boxes of Angel Food Cake, I have never in my life made Angel Food Cake but I don't want to be without. So those of you coming to visit plan on a meal of Angel Food Cornbread.

I was able to meet with the HRO that I am replacing and I found out many of important things: that there is a bakery down the street from my apartment, that there is a cheese store down the street, that there is a grocery store down the street and a butcher store down the street....who could ask for more? She said she would go to the bakery every other week and I figured I would folow in her foot steps but I am thinking more along the lines of every other meal, after all going at lunch as well would be glutinous. She also told me about the "Chicken Man" this is someone who comes to the Embassy once a week with fresh chicken, cheese and eggs! I think that is the neatest thing-I do have concerns about how fresh the chickens will be.......

I have gotten pictures of an apartment that is in the same building as mine so I am really getting excited. The apartment is on the tramline straight to work and a couple of miles from the beach. I have already bought a bike and have my housekeeper lined up (I may have talked about this before) but she will come one a week, to do laundry, clean and cook.

Hope all is well and more before I leave,

Jamie

Counting Down

2008-04-22T00:57:00.000+02:00

Greetings from Wet and Windy DC. Well the countdown is on....I have finished my 7 weeks of Human Resources training and my brain is full! I try to read 30 minutes from my class books every night because it is so much information! I will be taking a class on the European Union next week and I am taking classes on being the duty officer this week. On Friday I will go to Hagerstown MD where they have everything in storage. I need to go through all of my boxes and decide what I want to take and what will stay here. When I get to the Hague they will provide me with housing, it should be a two bedroom apartment. I try not to talk about it to my friends going to other parts of the world where they will have 3 bedroom houses with gardens!! It is interesting to read about the housing in different parts of the world. The apartment will be furnished but I have heard horror stories about the mattresses provided so I am taking my double bed. I also want to take some of my personal fun things!!! I am very lucky because the person I am succeeding has a housekeeper that I am "inheriting" she comes once a week for four hours!! Once again comparing to friends going to other corners of the earth have a housekeeper four hours a day for the same amount or LESS! I will also inherit her bike, housekeeper bike what else do I need in life. I also found out a very fun fact about the Dutch-the national color is ORANGE! I was told I need to make sure that I bring some orange to wear on holidays. I am hoping one of those holidays will fall on Bedlam!

I just got back from a spa weekend in Hershey PA. I know you are seeing a theme here, spas and chocolate. I do have a funny feeling that in Holland it will be cheese themed spas but I am up for anything! Back to Hershey, it was fabulous! When you check into the Hershey Lodge they give you a FREE candy bar, at the spa there are brownies, the best hot chocolate in the world and bowls of hershey kisses everywhere. I also had a "whipped chocolate" bath. I have hives on my legs and I truly think I overdosed on chocolate!

More later as I start to get ready to get to Post.

Checking In

2008-03-10T23:37:00.000+01:00

I didn't realize how long it had been since I had written until I received a mildly threatening phone call from the Stillwater chapter of the Bookless Book group, that is not a group to mess with! I apologize for not updating earlier. I started my HR class about two weeks ago, it is a huge learning curve. It is a very diverse class, one person has been with the State Department for 20 years, while I am working on month number 2! I have a big test next Friday which will complete one portion of the class, I will then move on to 2 weeks of compensation and another 2 week class, THEN a variety of classes until I leave end of May first of June. Luckily I will have time with the person I am succeeded (one does not replace in the Department of State rather we succeed one another) so she can catch me up on all of the ins and outs of The Hague. I have heard from my sponser, he recommended buying a bike so I can't wait to get a bike with a big white basket on the front (and maybe training wheels in the back, it has been a long time!)

I had a fantastic time in New York, I went to the Met which has a fabulous exhibit of Egyptian artificats. It was amazing, the museum was so big I got lost trying to get from one end to the other. It was very relaxing, I went to the Spa on Saturday and then again on Sunday and well the brownie bar at the Spa was well worth another massage on Monday before I left.

Since my life is not exciting enough I have taken up knitting. I am going to take knitting classes at Knit Happens (to me just saying the name is well worth the price of admission!). I figure I have the next two Christmas taken care of, you will all get your right sock this year and the left sock next year. I can only imagine how cool I will look biking through the Hague on my bike with my knitting in the white basket!

More until later-not much later though.....I am still fearful of the wrath of the bookless book group!

Say Cheese!!!

2008-02-13T02:14:00.000+01:00

Well lots has happened since my last blog. We celebrated flag day last week. This is a ceremony where everyone is presented with the flag of the country where they will spend their first assignment. Luckily they tell you what the flag is before your name is called or you may not know where the flag is from!! I have to say it is not as exciting when you know where you are going. As most of you know I will be going to the Hague in the Netherlands. When I was presented with my list (list of one!) you could have knocked me over with a feather, I would have thought I had a better chance to go to Toronto then to Europe. I have to admit I was a little disappointed at first-I was hoping for a country that didn't have a McDonalds, but I have given it much thought and how can you be disappointed in a country that has cities named for cheese? Gotta love being able to stop off in Gouda on the way home from work.

Last Friday was our swearing in at "Main State" Oklahoma was well represented with three Oklahoma friends. Ambassador John D. Negroponte was our guest speaker and swore all of us in-I must say I was a little teary eyed and I am not ashamed to admit it. This week I have been in security training will have medical training tomorrow and start HR training on Feb. 25th.

I am very excited about my trip to NYC. I have made reservations for a massage Saturday night and for a pedicure on Sunday morning at Bliss spa (the spa is in my hotel). My reasoning behind this is now I get to go the sauna, steam room and (this was the point that solidified my decision) and BROWNIE bar both days. I also have tickets to the Butterfly conservatory at the American Museum for Natural History (unfortunately no brownie bar there).

I hope everyone has now located the Hague on the map and is making plans to come visit over the next two years!!!

All is Well!!!

2008-02-04T01:08:00.000+01:00

I have managed to survive into week 3 of our training. I will begin my Human Resources training on Feb. 25th which will last 7 weeks. Next week will be an exciting week. We have flag day on Tuesday, this is the ceremony in which we will be given the flag to represent the country that we will be starting our career in. The big deal is now making sure you know what the flags from your list look like (of course since I have one choice on my list it SHOULD be rather easy). On Friday we have our final swearing in. So that means I have to be on my best behavior twice this week. Our past two weeks have consisted of a team building exercise, taking the modern language aptitude test (don't even ask.....), choosing our insurance (it was not easy with a choice of 538 plans) and a day discussing culture. One of the big stresses was that they moved our name plates around after class on Friday, this meant mass confusion on Monday (it also meant two new people I had to be nice to!). The big excitement was that on Friday when we were discussing crisis management an unexploded ordinance from WWII was found on the grounds when they were doing construction. This meant that we were evactuated and got to go home at 12:00!

The first two weeks the main excitement were evening excursions to Trader Joe's (two within driving distance) and Target (two within driving distance). I kept thinking that I had heard there was more to do in DC than Target and Trader Joe's so this weekend 3 of us headed down into DC to expand our horizons. We went to the National Portrait Musuem, the Archives to see the Declaration of Independence and then on to the Natural History Museum! I saw the Hope Diamond-which I think means man I hope I get a Diamond that looks like that some day!!

I am going to New York City for President's Day weekend (surely they have Target and Trader Joe's!) to go to some museums, have some spa time and visit the mecca that is Tiffany's.

More this week after Flag Day!

I survived day 1!!!!

2008-01-23T13:25:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning I woke very early to start getting ready-I was very fashionable in my black and white checked blazer and pink button down. I met some other nervous but very nice Foreign Service Specialists on the shuttle to the Foreign Service Institute. We all gathered (about 65 of us) in the lobby for our swearing in service. I began looking around and realizing that the State Department "uniform" does not include pink shirts much less black and white checked blazers, it is much more of a muted dark suit, white shirt "uniform"! I stood out like the only Human Resource Officer that I was, my fears were substantiated when the speaker stated he always liked to see a class of dark suits, then he knows that the evaluators have done a good job of recruiting the best and the brightest! I could only imagine what he that of the fashion don't in the back of room in her checked blazer. Needless to say today I am wearing a lovely dark brown suit-but I still have a little bit of fashionista in me and I am wearing (gasp) a light blue button down!

There are a number of Foreign Service Agents (Security) a couple of Diplomatic Couriers and quite a few Office Specialists. Everyone is very friendly and we are al in the same boat which makes for some bonding.

Well I had better go-I have to make an introduction of an ambassador today-no pressure (but hence the brown suit!)

The Adventure Begins.....part II

2008-01-22T02:18:00.000+01:00

Well I have made it to Washington DC and I start training tomorrow. I must say that I have the "first day of school" butterflies: will I be able to sit at the cool table at lunch, will I be wearing the right clothes?

I am moved into my studio apartment. The State Department has a contract with a complex called Oakwood. It is very interesting, it is one big room with a couch, sitting chair and 2 tvs! (Plus the bed taking its half out of the middle of the room!) there is also a small kitchen fully furnished. A maid is provided one day a week, for those that know my housekeeping skills (or lack thereof) know that this is a benefit that has no equal! The other benefit is that there is a Target 1.3 miles away.

All of my worldy possessions were packed up and are currently stored in Maryland. I must say it was a little sad to pack everything up when I have no idea when or even where I will see all of my things again. I figure one of two things can happen: 1)it is so long until I am settled an can unpack my clothes that they are out of style or 2) it is so long until I am settled an can unpack my clothes that they have gone out of style but have made it BACK into style!

I had better get go over my check list for tomorrow again-I want to make sure I don't forget anything. I should have my list of choices tomorrow so I will update soon.

The Adventure Begins.....

2008-01-04T02:49:00.000+01:00

I am new to the world of blogging (I know that comes as a surprise to many of you..) but I decided this would be a great way to keep in touch as the adventure begins (truth be known I just want something to come up when I am googled!).

For those of you that don't know, after 2 long years of waiting and worrying the chance of a lifetime is here. I will be leaving Stillwater on January 17th to head to Washington D.C. and begin Foreign Service Specialists orientation at the George P. Schultz National Foreign Affairs Training Center. Upon arrival in D.C. I will be staying in a furnished studio apartment provided by the State Department. During the first week of orientation I will recieve a list of upcoming vacancies from which I can request my choices. I will have an opportunity to research my "bid list", hopefully that research will provide information on who has ESPN reception and if there is a local branch of Tiffany's (could I be THAT lucky). Keep in mind that one of my conditions of employment is worldwide availablity so I am prepared for anything and everything. I have to say the more exotic the better! But then again what could be more exotic than Stillwater? After orientation I will have HR training at least until April 28th (which means I will Stateside for March Madness which is of great importance). Depending on where I will be going I may stay in D.C. to learn a language. That is everything I know for now, when I get to DC and I have more information I will continue to update.