Amsterdam This is where I work, Rivierstaete, Amsteldijk 166 in Amsterdam. To get here, I walk over about two large block to the east from where I live and then south a block to the Weteringcircuit (something like that folks) Tram stop, where I hopefully catch the number 25 tram in short order. After riding it around the little circle, past the fake brewery, past the shops and the rolling park sandwiched between two tram lines I arrive at Victorieplein, where I leave the little tram. I walk across the street, south two blocks, then east/southeast for two blocks until I get to the Rivierstaete building. I enter through TWO security doors (I swear, somebody important must be in this building or they just overbuilt security) and then I'm on, of course, the 0 floor and after taking the elevator up to the 4th floor (which is the 5th) I go into the office and sit in a cubicle positioned just in the middle of traffic (right along a major hallway) in cubicles that are those little half-walled ones. It is a unique working environment to say the least. Img_2890
Ah! A hidden treasure...it's...
1. Washed my clothes in water softener. This one was just recently, I washed my clothes and they definitely had a mildly clean smell, but not exactly what you'd expect. Of course, I was using the bottle of what I thought was Dutch detergent which was from Albert Heijn. I think I should stop making assumptions about ANYTHING from Albert Heijn. Anyway, eventually I translated the front which said something like Was Vaanderdajcht or something, and yep turns out to be water softener. So, back to the good old Woolite I packed (thanks Andy, Mom and Dad for the tip) and my clothes, although having dried painfully slowly in my apartment twice, have been cleaned once. But, at least I learned this lesson early on! 2. After getting a notice in the mail in Dutch that had KPN Telecom printed at the top I assumed it was my telephone bill. I walked confidently into the post office, where I had been informed that I could pay my telephone bill, since I didn't have a Dutch bank account, since I didn't have a sofi number, since I didn't have a residence permit, since I had just entered the country, and after waiting with my number in line (very Dutch...order and safety in the take a number system) I said "I think this is for my phone bill." My pride deflated immediately when the clerk smiled and said, it's for your telephone book. What made it even worse was that I was traveling to Barcelona that day, so I took the Dutch telephone book all the way to Barcelona and back since I wasn't going to lug it back to my apartment and then carry my luggage back to catch the tram etc. 3. Got a Ham and Ei sandwich at Albert Heijn (local grocery store) thinking it was a Ham sandwich (that's what it looked like...and it's ham, what could you do to it to mess it up?). Well, the answer is plenty. It turned out to be a ham and egg sandwich. While ham and eggs are fine separate for breakfast, there's something not so good about a cold ham and boiled egg sandwich that just doesn't appeal to me. But hey, I was hungry, so I ate half of it. 4. Walked right into a swarm of bicycle traffic causing a small child to come to a screeching halt and fall off his bike (this was the first day...a bad start) 5. At the foreign police office, I guess they assumed (who knows WHY, I'm obviously a foreigner) that I spoke Dutch. I was just paying the bill (258 euros...WOW) for the Residency Permit and they were talking in Dutch. I thought...hmmm...they're probably not saying anything majorly important, I can just nod and smile and take my change and copies and I'll be fine. However, after a while I wasn't sure if she was saying anything important so I looked at her straight on after she had said something, paused and said "I have absolutely no idea what you just said." She said, "Oh, you speak English" and then told be the yellow copy was mine and the white was theirs...duh...like I needed a translation there. Perhaps I should have just nodded again. 6. Stayed on the tram waaay too long since I had no idea where I was going 7. Got off the tram waaay too early since I previously had stayed on waaay too long, and had to wait for the next one 8. Tried to pronounce words that I have NO idea how to pronounce. I think these words over in my head beforehand, but when it comes time to ask for my stripenkaart (strip of tickets) to be stamped to wateringcircuit it just doesn't come out right and eventually, they give up and say something and I smile and nod and they stamp the ticket. Life is much better now that I have a monthly pass for the central zone of the tram system. 9. When a tram was stopping at my station once, another tram was at the normal pickup point, so I assumed it would wait for the first one then pull up and I could get on. Nope, it stopped behind the first then as soon as the first one left it took off, leaving me to wait for the next tram and meditate on the need for speed in the tram system. 10. Recently at Albert Heijn I picked up a croissant from the bread area, thinking that since it was the bread area I would be fine. I also bought some ham and thought I might have a nice ham sandwich with them. I got the croissants home and what do I find but ham embedded in the bread! It actually turned out to be very good, especially microwaved for 15 seconds.
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