2 weekends ago, we went with a few friends on another long bike ride up to the flower fields. They were amazing! The air was full of sweet smelling hyacinths and the fields of color just seemed to go on forever! I am definitely loving this time of year here!! Here are some pictures we took on our trip. Click on the pictures to see them full size!!
Monday, April 18, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Huisarts
The following day I went to my appointment, where I discovered what I had really scheduled was my registration. The receptionist handed me a clipboard and told me to fill out the top half of the paper, which was basically demographic information. My "appointment" was over. Now, to be fair, I'm pretty sure this was a lost in translation issue between us so I asked her if I could schedule a time to see the doctor. She scheduled me for the following morning. They are very good about getting you in here. You can typically get in that day or at the latest the following day.
The next day I showed up (again) to see the doctor. She was a very nice older woman who took me into her office, which looked like a real home office. In one corner, there was a patient bed that was half enclosed with a decorative room separator. She led me over to her desk and I sat down and sort of felt like I was in the principal's office. We talked for a few minutes about what I needed, she wrote me out a prescription and an order for an X-ray on my knee and that was that! There was no co-pay, no wait, none of the usual hassles we get back in the States. It was great!
So today I went to get my knee x-rayed (minor mishap with tripping over my too long of pants and falling up, yes up, the steps about a year ago). It's always an adventure to follow google map directions in this town because roads curve slightly and then are named something different. I finally found the hospital, which confused me because I thought I was going to a place that just did X-rays (again with the communication barrier) but I walked through the revolving doors and was able to read the dutch word for radiology (don't be impressed, it's radiologie) and made my way to the department. When I came out of the elevator, I walked into a large waiting room that was filled to the max, behind a long line to sign in. So I inwardly sighed and got in line.
When I finally made it up to the desk and handed the woman the note from my doctor, she asked for my card. I started to pull out my insurance card but she stopped me and asked for my registration card. Hmm?? Apparently at hospitals you get registered and then receive a little folder that you bring with you everytime you come to the hospital and it already has your information on it as well as stickers to go in your chart. Pretty nifty actually but it was a pain because it meant I had to go back down to the main lobby and register.
Finally, after registration, which took no more than 10 minutes, I was back in action. This time though, everyone in the waiting room had magically disappeared and no sooner had I checked in and sat down, my name was called. So they had me take my pants and shoes off, which I thought was a little weird. I mean, the machine can see through my skin but my cotton sweat pants are just too much?? But whatever, the x-ray was done.
All in all, it was a very pleasant first time experience with the health care system in the Netherlands. The only money I had to pay out was 13euros for 3 months worth of medicine, that would cost me $75 in the States, WITH a discount card. Now, don't be too fooled though, we do pay like 42% of our income to taxes so . . .they get you somehow.
Hopefully this great experience continues with whatever health care needs that arise. I'm sure I will have interesting stories to tell whenever we decide to have children. Did you know nearly 50% of Dutch women give birth at home?? And you don't see OBgyn's here except in high risk pregnancies. You work with a midwife. But these are stories for another time, far down the road.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
Beach Ride!
Right after we got out of the city limits of Leiden, some boys-who will remain unnamed but both might have been the only 2 American men with us, started their horseplay. Despite Kimberly's best efforts to reign them in with her teacher's voice, someone got hurt. Ed's bike. His brakes were basically rammed off the wheel. So for the rest of the ride (and remember, we were only 2km into it, so total round trip, we still had about 26km more to go), Ed was grabbing onto others for dear life when faced with sudden stops. The rest of the time we all yelled out "Braaaaaake"! to give him time to Fred Flinstone it and use his feet. We were determined to get to the beach.
We passed some beautiful flower fields. The tulips weren't up yet but you could see them getting ready to bloom. The other flower fields were just as beautiful with their rows and rows of colorful blooms.
We were very close to our destination and it hardly seemed like we had been biking long at all. That is the great thing about biking in the Netherlands-no hills!! But just shy of the beach, we came across a mini-golf place. Naturally we had to stop and play a round. I lost horribly but I believe I was thrown off by the ridiculousness of the Dutch "midget-golf" course. Each hole ran into the next one so if you would go to hit your ball and you overshot the hole (which, you do on nearly every first shot) your ball would roll onto the next green, where someone might be getting ready to take their shot. So we had to implement a system where a few of us would stand at the end of the hole and guard our ball from going onto the next green. Annoying, to say the least.
But after mini-golf, we were beach bound! It was amazing, we came through a parking lot and BAM, there was the North Sea! Tons of seaside restaurants, people sunbathing, children swimming in the water (even though it was only 70 degrees and we are as far north as Canada, making the water pretty chilly). It was beautiful!! We had lunch at a beachside restaurant and then made our way to the water. No one but me wanted to get their feet wet. Weird right? I mean, we were at the NORTH SEA for the first time!!! But I had a fabulous time and splashed around as much as one can who hds no friends in with her and who was freezing.
Then we decided to take a different route back so we could bike along the coastal route and go through Katvijk (another seaside community). While this seemed like a great decision at the time, once we got going we realized that there are in fact about 4 km worth of hills in the Netherlands and we were biking them! We followed a path through sand dunes, that had all of us shouting at the injustice it was that the country had tricked us into believing that riding your bikes was a great means of transportation. Then we finally exited the sand dunes and all was right with the world again and we continued on our flat way home. Once we got through Katvijk, which is about 9km from Leiden, we all started to feel the burn in our bums. We prayed there wouldn't be red lights that would force us to have to get off of our bikes. As long as we didn't lift up or move in any way, we were all right. But one wrong move up or to the left or right, shot shooting pains through our backsides.
By the time we got home ,we were tired, sunburnt, sore, and ready to plop down on a doughnut pillow. It was a fabulous day. One of my best days in the Netherlands I think. I can't wait to go back with a picnic lunch, when the tulips are in full bloom.
Here are a few pics from our trip!
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Grocery Store
Ahh, it's always an experience going to the grocery store. There's always a good story to tell after coming home. From not being able to read whether the can of tomatoes is chopped or whole to being disappointed the oh so small selection of cereal (or museli as they call it over here, which is basically granola. No word for cereal!), it's always an adventure.
Most recently though, I have been having to practice my anger management skills when walking through the store. This happens everywhere but I notice it the most at the grocery store, probably because I'm there so often. People have no common courtesy. I'm sure I've written about this before but it's taking on a whole new level. No one says excuse me or sorry when they push right past you, ramming their cart into your elbow. They do not hesitate to push your cart right out of their way, with no regards to your shins that they are pushing it right into. But the most blatant example happened the other day and had it gone on 10 seconds longer, you might have seen my face splashed across CNN's breaking news headlines, reading "American woman goes ballistic in the grocery store in Holland. Dutch authorities have detained her for further questioning." Then you all would have to raise money to bribe the authorities to let me out of jail to come back home. But luckily for all involved, that didn't happen.
What did happen was this. I was walking into the store, behind a cart pusher. Now I'm not even really sure where he came from because they don't have carts outside but nonetheless, there he was in front of me, trying to push the carts back into their place on the other side of the store. He was sandwiched between the check out lanes, which obviously weren't going anywhere and people on the other side of him, who were trying to put their groceries into bags. ( There are no baggers here, you bag you own stuff so sometimes when people have a lot, to get out of the checkout line, they put all their things back in their basket and go to a little counter area, designed for bagging your things, this is where those people were). So clearly, this poor kid of all of 16 is trying to push about 15 carts through a small space but is being blocked by not one but TWO people's carts, who are trying to bag their groceries. What do the people do who are blocking part of the way? Move their carts over 6 inches and let the kid pass by with all of his carts? No way! That would be too nice and display too much common courtesy. Instead, they BOTH look up at the kid, who is pleading with them with his eyes to scoot their cart over, and then they keep grabbing things out of their cart, not bothering to move it out of his way. He is gently trying to bump their cart out of the way and STILL, they do nothing!!! I was furious and about to go over and "gently" (see CNN breaking news) bump their carts out of the way but he finally managed to make it through, with no help from them. It was ridiculous.
I went about my shopping and came home in a bit of fury, telling Dan all about the situation. He understands because he's close to boycotting the store because he can't stand the rudeness. It all adds to our adventures here, that's what I keep telling myself.
But it might be good if everyone can start a savings fund now to help get me out of the country if I snap one day. I'm just saying. . .
Most recently though, I have been having to practice my anger management skills when walking through the store. This happens everywhere but I notice it the most at the grocery store, probably because I'm there so often. People have no common courtesy. I'm sure I've written about this before but it's taking on a whole new level. No one says excuse me or sorry when they push right past you, ramming their cart into your elbow. They do not hesitate to push your cart right out of their way, with no regards to your shins that they are pushing it right into. But the most blatant example happened the other day and had it gone on 10 seconds longer, you might have seen my face splashed across CNN's breaking news headlines, reading "American woman goes ballistic in the grocery store in Holland. Dutch authorities have detained her for further questioning." Then you all would have to raise money to bribe the authorities to let me out of jail to come back home. But luckily for all involved, that didn't happen.
What did happen was this. I was walking into the store, behind a cart pusher. Now I'm not even really sure where he came from because they don't have carts outside but nonetheless, there he was in front of me, trying to push the carts back into their place on the other side of the store. He was sandwiched between the check out lanes, which obviously weren't going anywhere and people on the other side of him, who were trying to put their groceries into bags. ( There are no baggers here, you bag you own stuff so sometimes when people have a lot, to get out of the checkout line, they put all their things back in their basket and go to a little counter area, designed for bagging your things, this is where those people were). So clearly, this poor kid of all of 16 is trying to push about 15 carts through a small space but is being blocked by not one but TWO people's carts, who are trying to bag their groceries. What do the people do who are blocking part of the way? Move their carts over 6 inches and let the kid pass by with all of his carts? No way! That would be too nice and display too much common courtesy. Instead, they BOTH look up at the kid, who is pleading with them with his eyes to scoot their cart over, and then they keep grabbing things out of their cart, not bothering to move it out of his way. He is gently trying to bump their cart out of the way and STILL, they do nothing!!! I was furious and about to go over and "gently" (see CNN breaking news) bump their carts out of the way but he finally managed to make it through, with no help from them. It was ridiculous.
I went about my shopping and came home in a bit of fury, telling Dan all about the situation. He understands because he's close to boycotting the store because he can't stand the rudeness. It all adds to our adventures here, that's what I keep telling myself.
But it might be good if everyone can start a savings fund now to help get me out of the country if I snap one day. I'm just saying. . .
Monday, March 21, 2011
Spring has arrived
It seems Spring has finally arrived here! There are flowers popping up all over the place! I will be biking along and see the roadside dotted with flowers like these
in all colors, yellow, purple, white and they are all beautiful. I am so excited about the upcoming tulip season. It's a great time to be living here. It's amazing what a difference the sun coming out makes! Our days are getting longer and after this weekend when we commence daylight savings time, we will be making our way to having light from 5am until 11:30pm. Time to get blackout curtains!
I am still reeling from the fact that a week ago I was in Paris! That is one of the many benefits to living in a place like Europe. We are so close to so many different countries with their different cultures. I wasn't sad to be leaving Paris because I knew that I would be back, by train or plane next time, but I'll be back!
in all colors, yellow, purple, white and they are all beautiful. I am so excited about the upcoming tulip season. It's a great time to be living here. It's amazing what a difference the sun coming out makes! Our days are getting longer and after this weekend when we commence daylight savings time, we will be making our way to having light from 5am until 11:30pm. Time to get blackout curtains!
I am still reeling from the fact that a week ago I was in Paris! That is one of the many benefits to living in a place like Europe. We are so close to so many different countries with their different cultures. I wasn't sad to be leaving Paris because I knew that I would be back, by train or plane next time, but I'll be back!
Monday, March 14, 2011
30th birthday! (Part 2)-French Police Stations and broken elevators.
Saturday was my birthday and I woke up to a beautifully sunny day in France. I started the day off right by opening my present from Meagan! It was a wonderful box full of 30's! Pictures, memories, balloons, candles, cards, and oreos. After I fully reviled in my presents, we headed out for the day to explore the sites of Paris, starting our day off right at a cafe'. We sipped hot chocolate and ate croissants and crepes while looking at the Pantheon in front of us. But, back to the croissants. They were A-Mazing! These were not your pillsbury-dough-pop-the-top-and-roll-out croissants. No, they were indescribable! After we finished. we headed for the Pantheon, which was beautiful and picturesque. From there, we could look one direction and see the Eiffel Tower and look another and see Notre Dame. The Eiffel Tower looked pretty far away so we opted to walk to Notre Dame.
Notre Dame was beautiful and awe-inspiring. It is a huge cathedral that is still in use today. After we explored that, we bought a painting on the street as a memento of our time spent in Paris. Then we decided to head back to check on our car and grab our coats out of it before heading to the Eiffel Tower(by the metro, not by foot!).
When we approached the place where Dan parked our car, we realized that the whole line of cars that was there the night before was gone, including our car!! This could be a big problem. So we head back to the hotel and the manager called the police for us to see if it had been towed but they claimed they did not have it. The manager gave us the address for the police station to go make a report for our apparently stolen car. When we arrived at the station, no one spoke English. I felt like it was a scene from a movie. The woman helping us could say a few words but had a difficult time understanding what we were saying. We were there for about 45 minutes before they were finally able to locate our car in the French impound lot. Our car had indeed been towed.
Now to most, this might seem like a bad thing, but if you were originally thinking your car was stolen and you were going to have to buy a 38,000euro car that you don't even get to keep, then a 136euro fee for getting your car out of the French impound was a small price to pay. By the grace of God, we found the impound lot after taking the Metro(subway), getting lost, taking the Metro again and finding a police officer who directed us to the 4th story underground of a shopping center, where we found our car. It was a crazy time.
By this time, we were tired. Our feet were tired. But dangit, it was my 30th birthday, we were in Paris, and I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower! So we hopped back on the Metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower.
After we came out of the metro station, I was frantically looking around for the Eiffel Tower but couldn't see it. Finally we came around a building and I looked up. . .and there it was in all its glory. It was everything I ever imagined and then some. It was beautiful and majestic and took my breath away. We took pictures and marveled at it. We decided we were going to come back the next day (because I wanted to see it in the daytime as well) and we would go up it then. If we went that night, we would miss our train home and have to walk 4km. I could barely walk the 200 yards to the train station so we were not missing that train.
When we got back near our hotel, we decided to eat dinner at another cafe. We sat outside under an awning, with heat lamps and enjoyed some French cheese and some of the best wine I have ever tasted. My birthday was complete! I was 30 and in an amazing city, sipping wine with my husband, watching the Parisians pass us by.
The next day we headed back to the Eiffel Tour and rode the elevator up to the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor was closed due to congestion so we couldn't go all the way to the top but the view from the 2nd floor was amazing! It was very surreal. We were trying to decide if we should take the stairs down (yes and crazy people take them up as well) but opted for the elevator because our feet were still recovering from the day before. As soon as we got to the bottom, the elevator went a little lower than it was supposed to, not aligning itself with the door. All of a sudden these loud sirens start going off, not exactly the sounds you want to hear when you're stuck in a world famous monument. The elevator went up a few inches, then back down a few inches. The lady operating the elevator told us it would be 2 minutes. They would take the elevator up a few feet and then back down but it would never align itself to where it was supposed to go. Finally, it took us all the way back up, stopped half-way down, at which point I started getting pretty nervous because who wants to be stuck several hundred feet in the air? But we started moving downwards again and finally they gave up after about 20 minutes of this and pried the doors open and let us all out. It was an experience. Next time, I think we'll take the stairs down.
Then we had lunch at one more cafe' and then headed out of town. We stopped in Brugge, Belgium for the night and spent the next morning wandering around this cute city and eating Belgian waffles and buying Belgian chocolate. It was fantastic.
Overall, I have to say this was the best birthday ever. Thank you to a wonderful husband who knows how to surprise me and makes sacrifices so that he can treat me to incredible experiences!
Notre Dame was beautiful and awe-inspiring. It is a huge cathedral that is still in use today. After we explored that, we bought a painting on the street as a memento of our time spent in Paris. Then we decided to head back to check on our car and grab our coats out of it before heading to the Eiffel Tower(by the metro, not by foot!).
When we approached the place where Dan parked our car, we realized that the whole line of cars that was there the night before was gone, including our car!! This could be a big problem. So we head back to the hotel and the manager called the police for us to see if it had been towed but they claimed they did not have it. The manager gave us the address for the police station to go make a report for our apparently stolen car. When we arrived at the station, no one spoke English. I felt like it was a scene from a movie. The woman helping us could say a few words but had a difficult time understanding what we were saying. We were there for about 45 minutes before they were finally able to locate our car in the French impound lot. Our car had indeed been towed.
Now to most, this might seem like a bad thing, but if you were originally thinking your car was stolen and you were going to have to buy a 38,000euro car that you don't even get to keep, then a 136euro fee for getting your car out of the French impound was a small price to pay. By the grace of God, we found the impound lot after taking the Metro(subway), getting lost, taking the Metro again and finding a police officer who directed us to the 4th story underground of a shopping center, where we found our car. It was a crazy time.
By this time, we were tired. Our feet were tired. But dangit, it was my 30th birthday, we were in Paris, and I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower! So we hopped back on the Metro and headed to the Eiffel Tower.
After we came out of the metro station, I was frantically looking around for the Eiffel Tower but couldn't see it. Finally we came around a building and I looked up. . .and there it was in all its glory. It was everything I ever imagined and then some. It was beautiful and majestic and took my breath away. We took pictures and marveled at it. We decided we were going to come back the next day (because I wanted to see it in the daytime as well) and we would go up it then. If we went that night, we would miss our train home and have to walk 4km. I could barely walk the 200 yards to the train station so we were not missing that train.
When we got back near our hotel, we decided to eat dinner at another cafe. We sat outside under an awning, with heat lamps and enjoyed some French cheese and some of the best wine I have ever tasted. My birthday was complete! I was 30 and in an amazing city, sipping wine with my husband, watching the Parisians pass us by.
The next day we headed back to the Eiffel Tour and rode the elevator up to the 2nd floor. The 3rd floor was closed due to congestion so we couldn't go all the way to the top but the view from the 2nd floor was amazing! It was very surreal. We were trying to decide if we should take the stairs down (yes and crazy people take them up as well) but opted for the elevator because our feet were still recovering from the day before. As soon as we got to the bottom, the elevator went a little lower than it was supposed to, not aligning itself with the door. All of a sudden these loud sirens start going off, not exactly the sounds you want to hear when you're stuck in a world famous monument. The elevator went up a few inches, then back down a few inches. The lady operating the elevator told us it would be 2 minutes. They would take the elevator up a few feet and then back down but it would never align itself to where it was supposed to go. Finally, it took us all the way back up, stopped half-way down, at which point I started getting pretty nervous because who wants to be stuck several hundred feet in the air? But we started moving downwards again and finally they gave up after about 20 minutes of this and pried the doors open and let us all out. It was an experience. Next time, I think we'll take the stairs down.
Then we had lunch at one more cafe' and then headed out of town. We stopped in Brugge, Belgium for the night and spent the next morning wandering around this cute city and eating Belgian waffles and buying Belgian chocolate. It was fantastic.
Overall, I have to say this was the best birthday ever. Thank you to a wonderful husband who knows how to surprise me and makes sacrifices so that he can treat me to incredible experiences!
30th Birthday! (Part 1)
The day before my 30th birthday, Dan told me that he had to give me part of my present early because it was "time dependent". He woke me up early on Friday and handed me a book. As I examined the book more closely, I realized it was a mapbook of Paris! My brain slowly put two and two together and I realized that we were heading to Paris! He had rented a car, canceled my jobs for the day and arranged everything! He had even sent out an email to all of our friends, where he had planned a party for the my actual birthday. After which he sent out the real email, leaving me off the list, explaining the trick and asking them all to go along with it all last week.
So we got our car and headed for France! We drove through Belgium and as we entered France, we ran into our first snafu of the trip. We came to a dead stop in traffic on the highway. When I consulted the GPS, I saw that there was an accident 26 km up the road. Surely that cannot be affecting us here, I thought. Well, 3 hours later, I thought wrong. We sat in traffic for nearly 3 hours to go 26 km!!!! Instead of getting into France about 730, we rolled in closer to 11pm!
But all was forgotten when we drove into the city. Even at 11pm, the city was alive. Cafe's were full of people drinking coffee and beer . The traffic was unbelievable. The French apparently have not heard of a fancy thing called "lanes". There were 3 "lanes" of traffic but no actual lanes. People were weaving in and out, motorcycles driving like a bunch of crazies, and our GPS constantly telling us to "make a half-right". What does that even mean?!!
We finally arrived at our hotel, only to find no parking and no place to even drop off our bags. Dan dropped me off to ask the hotel where the best place to park was and in the meantime, found a parking spot on the street, a little ways from our hotel. He brought in all of our luggage and carried it up 4 flights of stairs, because the elevator was broken.
We got into our room, which was amazing. I opened the window and felt like I was in the movie. The window had no screen on it so I was able to lean my body out and take in a deep breath of French air! Then we were so exhausted that we quickly fell into bed and slept.
So we got our car and headed for France! We drove through Belgium and as we entered France, we ran into our first snafu of the trip. We came to a dead stop in traffic on the highway. When I consulted the GPS, I saw that there was an accident 26 km up the road. Surely that cannot be affecting us here, I thought. Well, 3 hours later, I thought wrong. We sat in traffic for nearly 3 hours to go 26 km!!!! Instead of getting into France about 730, we rolled in closer to 11pm!
But all was forgotten when we drove into the city. Even at 11pm, the city was alive. Cafe's were full of people drinking coffee and beer . The traffic was unbelievable. The French apparently have not heard of a fancy thing called "lanes". There were 3 "lanes" of traffic but no actual lanes. People were weaving in and out, motorcycles driving like a bunch of crazies, and our GPS constantly telling us to "make a half-right". What does that even mean?!!
We finally arrived at our hotel, only to find no parking and no place to even drop off our bags. Dan dropped me off to ask the hotel where the best place to park was and in the meantime, found a parking spot on the street, a little ways from our hotel. He brought in all of our luggage and carried it up 4 flights of stairs, because the elevator was broken.
We got into our room, which was amazing. I opened the window and felt like I was in the movie. The window had no screen on it so I was able to lean my body out and take in a deep breath of French air! Then we were so exhausted that we quickly fell into bed and slept.
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