A quiet Sunday night

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......

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

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

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!!!

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

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.....

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